


A.I.: Orphans of Terra (HTTYD)

by vala411



Series: THE A.I. SAGA [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2019-09-23 17:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 59,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17084207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vala411/pseuds/vala411
Summary: (Post-Apocalypse AU) The human race is dying and by their own machinations. In a world where the future is uncertain and the past is all but dust, does an unconventional romance stand a chance? And are they humanity's last hope? (HICCSTRID/ NO ZOMBIES)





	1. Chapter 1

**AN: Helooooooo everybodyyyyy!!! I'm back with a new story for you all. Now this is a plot I've been toying with for some time and finally got the chance to put to paper (or Word doc) and it isn't yet finished. So updates will be when I got time but I do have a backlog of chapters ready for the Holidays. Consider this prologue a teaser and the first chapter will be out on Xmas eve. Also I do want to stress that this is HICCSTRID and while it is Post-Apocalyptic there are no ZOMBIES in this story. This story was inspired by the question my friend once asked me "What would happen if humans kept screwing up the Earth?"**

**AN2: There is a very high chance that like Eternal Valkyrie, this story will have a sequel.**

 

**Prologue**

Earth, the once great vessel that supported life. The evolution of humans was both its greatest achievement and its greatest downfall. Humanity spread across the Earth and consumed its resources, never stopping to consider that there might soon be no resources left. Always growing and consuming.

By the beginning 23rd century, the Earth was overpopulated and dying. The once great ecosystem could not sustain itself anymore. Mass extinction of animal and plant life due to pollution ran rampant. The once great tropical forests shriveled and turned into deserts. The ice caps melted and the flooding of the great cities began.

But this would not be the end for humanity. If the planet could not sustain them then they would look to the stars. A bold plan was initiated by the collective governments of the world. Project Genesis, where humans were selected to board the spaceships that would seed the stars. While this project was being hashed out, several governments also started employing strict birth control laws to battle the overpopulation. These laws did not do much in regards to the growing population and the loss of resources, and then in a secret meeting, a choice was made.

A new drug called ‘Midas’ was released in the water supplies of the cities to an unknowing population. This drug would lower the pregnancy rate. It would affect both male and females and be virtually undetected. The drug seemed to be working and fewer people conceived causing the population to stay at a steady rate. But then the decline started happening. Second, third, and later generations exposed to the Midas drug over the years started becoming completely infertile. When the drug was finally discovered the public outcry was immense. Riots broke out planet wide and those that had not been infected, mainly the rich and powerful, went into hiding and bought their way onto the Genesis project.

The ships left the Earth’s atmosphere not long after and in the midst of the chaos on the planet people wondered if this had been the privileged's goal the entire time.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Happy Holidays to one and all!!! I wish you all the very best!!**

**Chapter 1**

  
_Year: 24XX (Somewhere in the 25th century)_   
_Location: EARTH (TERRA, as called by the non-Native Earthians)_

“Get up Useless!!” Was the first thing Hiccup heard that morning. He groaned and stretched on the cold uneven ground. Cracking open an eye he saw several men from the caravan loading up the supplies.

“AAH!” he yelped when someone kicked him from behind. “I said get up!” Hiccup turned from his position on the ground to see that it was his uncle Spitelout that had woken him up. “We can’t have a fishbone like you lazing about,” he grumbled. “Get to work!”

He scrambled up and shook the desert sand out of his hair and clothes. Sleeping with a ratty old blanket and using a rock as a pillow wasn’t as comfortable as the other Berkians made it seem. “Yes Uncle Spitelout,” Hiccup mumbled as he quickly gathered his stuff. It was barely dawn but the red sands of the forever stretching desert could already be seen on the horizon.

“I see Sleeping Beauty finally decided to join us,” Hiccup’s cousin, Snotlout, muttered as he put his blanket away. “You should have been up an hour ago.”

“I was tired,” Hiccup stated. “You try lifting a large pack on your shoulders all day.”

“Well, I don’t have to cause I’m not useless!” Snotlout boasted as he flung his rifle over his shoulder. “Aren’t I right guys?” He sniggered while turning to the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut who were loading some boxes onto the rusted bus nearby. The twins laughed as Snotlout continued to make fun of Hiccup “Can’t hunt, can’t drive, can’t shoot a gun. The only thing you’re good for is working like a pack mule!”

“Well, technically Hiccup can shoot a gun,” Fishlegs, another of the teens commented. He was probably the only one who didn’t make fun of Hiccup but he also didn’t associate with him much.

“Riiiight,” Ruffnut now joined them as she dragged her brother along. “He hit the Chief right in the tush!”

“It was an accident!” Hiccup muttered as he was given heavy boxes to load. “Dad startled me and the bullet ricocheted off the bus and a pan.” Tuffnut snickered at the memory only to get whacked by his sister.

The Berkians quickly loaded the vehicles with supplies and put tarps over them to keep them safe from the unforgiving sun. Hiccup grabbed what he was supposed to carry and hoisted it on his back while the other teens got on ATVs and rode ahead of the caravan to scout.

He often wondered what it would be like to join the scouting parties. Not that he would get a chance he thought rather sadly. His father forbade him to do what the other teens regularly did just on the off chance he would screw it up. ‘It was entirely unfair,’ Hiccup thought. Sure he is inventions had caused some problems when they were still in the safe zone but he had always been there to take responsibility for them. Then people started blaming things on him over time and no one would believe he didn’t have anything to do with it.

Hiccup let out a sigh as he looked towards the front of the caravan where his dad and Gobber were walking. The vehicles were purely for carrying their supplies. They had made the trip all the way out here on foot after the Outcast raid on their settlement. He really missed being in the forge. All his inventions had also been confiscated after the twins set fire to the food silo and blamed it on him.

“Come on move it!” A voice grumbled near him and Hiccup noticed the glares he was receiving. Even the other men that dragged the heavy equipment didn’t like him much. ‘So much for being the son of the ‘Great Stoick The Vast’ uniter of all the tribes!’ Hiccup thought sarcastically. He honestly thought he might be adopted with how everyone was treating him. ‘No way my dad would have a fishbone for a son.’ His mind supplied.

The trip did not get better as Hiccup huffed and puffed in the hot sun. The scouting party had returned around noon and they reported that there were city ruins nearby. Hiccup already knew what that meant, he just didn’t get his hopes up anymore. Once they reached the ruins more parties would be made to scavenge for supplies. He had tried to volunteer for some in the past, hoping to prove to his father that he can handle more than just dragging the supplies and being the occasional mechanic but no one even wanted him on their teams.

Hiccup let out a sigh as he kept walking. The small valley they were traveling through now shielded some of the harsh sun and for that Hiccup was grateful. He often wondered how this place looked centuries ago. Probably lush forests filled to the brim with animal life. He had only seen pictures of some of the animals that had once inhabited the planet from the books that had been salvageable. When surviving, classical literature wasn’t on the top of anyone’s lists. The caravan moved on and by the evening they had made it to the ruins that the teens had found. Tall rusting metal structures littered the area, reminding the survivors of an era of luxury that they would probably never see again. The city ruins were half-buried under sand as the desert kept growing.

Hiccup approached his father cautiously. The man was large and had a big fiery beard and eyebrows to match. His booming voice spoke over the crowd as he asked for volunteers to scout for supplies. “Dad…..” Hiccup mumbled.

“Not now son,” Stoick said as he barely looked at his son.

“But dad……” Hiccup said again.

“Hiccup can’t you see that I’m busy?”

“But I want to volunteer!” Hiccup finally got out. His father stopped for a moment and then looked at Hiccup incredulously.

“Son we talked about this,” Stoick said. “I can’t let you go out there until you stop being……….. All of that.”

“You just pointed at all of me.” Hiccup uttered.

“Look son, I have a caravan to run. I don’t have time to humor you.”

“Humor me?!” Hiccup nearly shouted but Gobber interfered.

“Lad…. come one. Let’s go.” Gobber told him Hiccup frowned but nodded. It seemed his father had already turned back to the gathered crowd. As he walked away he could hear Snotlout sneering “Useless”.

“Gobber why did you stop me?” Hiccup finally asked when they were away from the crowd. Hiccup and his Godfather were leaning against one of the vehicles as they started watching the sunset.

“Your father’s under a lot of stress already, what with our water supply being so low,” Gobber mumbled. “I just don’t want ya to be the one he vents it on.”

“But I want to be useful Gobber,” Hiccup muttered. “He treats me like I’m a kid.”

“You are a kid Hiccup.” Gobber patted his shoulders.

“He never listens,” Hiccup grumbled.

“Well, you don’t either.” Gobber shot back. “It certainly runs in the family.”

“Gobber I’m being serious.” Hiccup sighed. “Whenever I talk to him he always has this disappointing scowl on his face. Like someone left with the last piece of bread pudding.”

“The man does love bread pudding,” Gobber shrugged.

“Gobber, Snotlout is a year younger than me and he gets to help out with scouting and other stuff. I just want to be more useful than a pack mule.”

“You ain’t a pack mule Hiccup.” Gobber stated.

“Could have fooled me,” Hiccup muttered. “You know dad told me to go sit quietly in the vehicle while he taught the other teens to shoot and forage?!”

“Well…….uhm…..” Gobber mumbled but Hiccup ranted on. “I want to help out more but every time I ask for him to show me the ropes it’s ‘Hiccup can’t you see I’m busy’, ‘Hiccup go sit somewhere quietly’, ‘Hiccup you know you can’t do this.’” At this point, Hiccup threw his hands up and started pacing. “Gobber, is it so bad to just be one of you guys?” Hiccup sighed as he kicked a rock.

“Hiccup why don’t you let me go have a little chat with your father,” Gobber said as he hobbled to his godson. “I might be able to knock some sense into his hard head. I might even get the chance to teach you how to drive.”

Hiccup was shocked, to say the least, so he merely nodded. Gobber patted him on the back before heading back into the crowd that was now being divided up.

 

**AN2: Next chapter update will be Dec 29. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

Hiccup had gone back to the back of the caravan where he could rest for a bit. It was mostly out of the eyeshot of the people that didn’t like him. He settled with laying against one of the bus’s wheels and wondered if Gobber would even be successful.

Gobber, not too long after, did catch Stoick taking a break. He approached his longtime friend who was sitting at a small plastic fold up table and said “We need to talk. It’s about Hiccup.”

“What has he done now?” Stoick asked with a groan.

“Nothing. It’s what you haven’t done.” Gobber muttered as he said down next to the other man.

“Me?” Stoick’s eyebrows shot up. “What did I do?”

“Nothing and that’s the point!” Gobber grumbled. “Stoick you gotta train the boy some time.”

“I’m being serious here Gobber.”

“So am I,” Gobber retorted. “Hiccup’s already 16. He’s gotta know how to survive in this world even if he’s the last of his generation.” Stoick let out a groan.

“Hiccup, he’s been different all his life. He has the attention span of a sparrow. He just doesn’t listen.”

“Guess where he gets it from,” Gobber muttered dryly under his breath as Stoick went on.

“Training won’t help Gobber. Hiccup is hopeless!” Stoick muttered. “Sometimes….. Sometimes….. I just wish he wasn’t so…. Hiccup.” he sounded defeated.

“Are you actually telling me that you wanted Hiccup to be some brainless macho guy?!”

“That’s what it takes to survive out here Gobber. You and I both know it.”

“So you just gonna leave him hanging?!” Gobber’s brows shot up. “He’s your son Stoick! Does he remind you that much of Valka that you have to ignore him!”

“Gobber my word is final,” Stoick’s fist thumped the plastic table. “Hiccup just isn’t cut out for this world.” Stoick stood up with that said and Gobber watched him go. “Poor lad,” The man mumbled.

The evening progressed relatively unpleasant for Hiccup. He only got about forty minutes of rest after lugging supplies on his back through the harsh desert sun. Snotlout was determined to bug him today it seemed. The twins had been nowhere to be found and he thought that they might have volunteered to go with the other scavenging parties. He had seen Fishlegs near the cooking area helping out though. The husky blond gave him a small nod as he had passed.

Snotlout must have gone tattling to his father after Hiccup’s sassy response because Spitelout assigned him to ATV maintenance duty not long after. So here Hiccup was, covered in grease and dust, in the night’s cold air, trying to get sand out of a motor. Normally Hiccup loved working on engines, it was a job he at least enjoyed but not right now. He looked at the motor he had to take out of one of the ATVs and wondered how in blazes a stone got stuck inside. He’d have to put the entire thing back together again tonight cause they were heading out tomorrow. Which meant almost no sleep.

The dinner bell rang and Hiccup’s stomach let out a growl. Only now did he notice how hungry he was and how long he had been working on the ATVs. He made his way to the growing dinner line. Hiccup managed to stand somewhere in the middle of the line and he really should have expected something to happen. He was just wiping the sweat off his forehead when someone shoved him out of the line. “Back of the line Hiccup!” He managed to regain his footing as he saw that the twins had taken his spot.

“Hey, I was here first!” Hiccup retorted as he looked at the others waiting in line. As per usual no one said anything. He was sure they would be jumping to the other teens’ defense if he tried to pull a stunt like that.  
“Too bad,” Ruffnut shrugged not really looking at Hiccup.

“Back of the line Useless,” Tuffnut chuckled.

Hiccup groaned as he looked at the other Berkians acting like this was normal, which admittingly it was. Scrawny Hiccup was their little punching bag. The one to blame if things went bad. Hiccup sighed, knowing that he would receive no backup here, trudged to the back of the line. There was also no way he was going to run to his father about this. The man would just tell him to suck it up.

The line moved along at a steady pace and when Hiccup finally reached the pot his bowl was mostly filled with bottom scrapings. He heard that the scavenger parties had found some wild rabbits in the dilapidated buildings and hunted them but there wasn’t even any meat left over. With a sigh, he went to find a rock not far from the fire to sit and eat. Hiccup was mostly ignored as the Berkians laughed at some of the old jokes and stories. Finding old city ruins always got the group reminiscing. Hiccup sighed as he thought back to a month ago. Everything was fine in the settlement they had erected until the Outcasts attacked one night. There was fire and chaos everywhere but the Outcasts had been held at bay. The settlement had been in ruins and the crops that they had so painstakingly worked on cultivating on the mostly barren soil had been either trampled or plundered along with some of their supplies. The decision was made to abandon the settlement and try to find better grounds to settle down. Hiccup’s ears pricked when he caught some of the conversation happening near him.

“Think the Chief will wanna settle here?” One of the burly men asked.

“There’s been talk yeah, seems we’re close to a river too.” Another answered. “We found animal tracks so there is food for now.” Hiccup continued to eat in silence as he listened in on other conversations. It was remarkable at what he learned when people treat you as invisible. The caravan was small, about seventy people give or take. Hiccup and the teens along with some of the younger children were likely to be the last humans left since no new babies had been born in the last decade. Once Hiccup finished he dried off his bowl and placed it with his other meager belongings.

The others were still sitting around the fire but Hiccup decided to go finish his work on the ATV motor. Maybe he could catch a quick nap afterwards. The voices got quieter as Hiccup reached the parking area for the scouting vehicles. The ATVs and many of the caravan vehicles were old, early or maybe mid-twenty-third century by the look of them. They were rust covered and the Berkians had stumbled upon them by accident when they were building the settlement. Petrol had become a scarce commodity during the last century with the depletion of the hydrocarbon resources worldwide. Gobber and himself had managed to get them up and running again, well mostly up and running again. Converting the vehicles to solar power had been no easy task since many of the scavenged solar panels had been broken. The vehicles just didn’t go as fast as they would have in the past.

Hiccup looked at the motor he had left out and went to work. Slowly the voices quieted down as the time passed. When Hiccup was finally finished he looked around and noticed that many were already asleep. Three guards stood around the convoy, keeping an eye out. Normally it would be more but the scouting and scavenging parties had not reported any hostiles in the area. Hiccup walked to one of the busses, stealthily avoiding waking up the women who were sleeping in there, and grabbed a blanket. When he stepped back out to find a sleeping spot that would not have a burly man rolling on him every few minutes he spotted a number of small lights in the distance. Normally he would attribute those to fireflies, because of course the insects would have survived, but the lights were getting bigger, the lights were getting bigger fast.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: 2019!!!! YEAY (Does a little jig for readers)**

**Chapter 3**

Hiccup’s eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing. He looked around for the other guards but the three were not yet looking in his direction. Hiccup ran towards Sven who was the closest and grabbed the big man by the arm. “Hiccup wh-” Sven was startled and didn’t get to finish his question when Hiccup shouted “RAIDERS!”

The guard’s bushy eyebrows shot up and he quickly hollered to the others, getting Bucket and Ack’s attention. Hiccup was two steps ahead of them and started sounding the alarm bell, waking up all the men that were sleeping outside. The teens and even some of the women also woke up immediately and Stoick came marching towards Hiccup looking quite grumpy. “Hiccup what is the meaning of this?!” The Chief asked.

“Dad…..” Hiccup started but was interrupted by Stoick again.

“Hiccup that bell isn’t a toy!” Stoick chastised just as cranky old Mildew mumbled nearby “Oh this boy…..”

“DAD!” Hiccup had had enough and shouted before reaching up and grabbing Stoick’s face on each side of his cheeks. He quickly turned his father’s face towards the oncoming lights. “Raiders!! Do you actually think I’m joking?!!”

The effect was near instantaneous. Hiccup saw his father’s eyes widening, his red bushy eyebrows shoot up, and then he was barking orders at all the men. “Where are the guards? Do we know who that is?! Get the women and children on the busses!! Ready the guns!”

Bucket came running back not a minute later from wherever he had gone. Hiccup presumed that the man went scouting and he was right. “Chief it’s The Dragons!” the guard reported and Hiccup heard his father curse in Norwegian. Stoick only ever cursed in Norwegian if he really really really really hated something and he really really really really hated The Dragons. They were wasteland raiders that attacked settlements or travelers in small groups and retreated just as fast as they came.

“Dragons,” Hiccup could hear his father scoft. “Ready your weapons. We’ll pick ‘em off one by one.”

“I don’t think that that will work this time Chief.” Bucket nervously spoke. “This isn’t an ordinary raiding party.”

“What?” Stoick said as he looked at the guard for clarification.

“These numbers are large. Very large.” The man gestured wildly as those around them stopped to listen to the news. Hiccup noted several men’s eyes widen and some of the women were quickly ushering the younger kids into the vehicles where they would be somewhat protected protected.

“What!” Stoick shouted and Hiccup jumped because he was so close to the booming voice.

“We might have landed close to their base without knowing it.” Bucket mused. “They are at least six raiding parties strong.”

Hiccup heard his dad curse again and he gulped. While The Dragon’s raiding parties were small they were extremely agile. In and Out. Not a lot of mercy given to those they stole supplies from. The damage six raiding parties could do……. Hiccup left that to the imagination.

Stoick looked around and then he spotted something. “Get these vehicles behind that crumbled overpass!” He ordered. The vehicles started to move, albeit more slowly than the lights that were coming towards them, but move they did. Hiccup wondered what The Dragons were using to power theirs. The busses were only working on reserve power now since the sun wasn’t shining and Stoick ordered the men to lay cover fire if they weren’t safely behind the overpass yet.

“Forget the supplies that are out!” Stoick barked as he saw some men hurry to pick those up. “We got no time!”

“Hiccup get on the bus!” Stoick then ordered.

“Dad I can help…..”

“Hiccup, no you can’t! Get on the bus!” Stoick said more firmly as the rest of the teens were allowed to help. Snotlout shoved Hiccup with his shoulder before saying “See Useless,” under his breath. The wild shouts of the raider’s convoys became louder and louder in the night air and people tensed when they heard a telltale whistle.

“Night Fury get down!” Hiccup heard Gobber shout and then the first shots came. Purple plasma bolts were shot with precision, taking out the men manning the guns on top of the vehicles. Hiccup could hear the men groaning from the burns as the women quickly pulled them inside to treat their wounds. Everyone in the wastelands knew the legend of the Night Fury. He was the one raider that never stole supplies, never was seen, and never missed his target. If the Night Fury wanted the men he shot dead then they would be dead. There was a flurry in the bus that Hiccup stepped in and in the distance he could still hear his father shouting orders. The vehicles were nearly behind the ruins of the overpass and Hiccup assumed that they would use those as a cover to get out of the area.

The first shots from the Berkians came not long after and Hiccup could faintly make out them taking down some of the raiders. It still wasn’t enough as many more soon joined them. They were going to be overrun and Hiccup didn’t want to imagine what would happen to them if they were captured. The chaos on the bus was marginal as it mostly consisted of women holding the children close for comfort. Hiccup looked around and then spotted his things, meager as they were, stashed in a corner. He quickly riffled through them as the famed whistling noise came back and injured several more Berkians. Hiccup heard the screams even as all the vehicles made it behind the crumbled overpass. Stoick had given them the order to keep on moving to ensure the caravan and supplies stayed safe.

Hiccup’s eyes lit up when he found what he was looking for, hidden in a small box underneath some of the scrap he tinkers with every now and then. The box held three inconspicuous canisters that he had made while they were still living in the settlement. He quickly grabbed the canisters and hurried off the bus, ignoring the other Berkians who were yelling for him to come back. Hiccup climbed the rubble of the overpass and from there he could see the chaos down below. While the vehicles were safely behind a barrier they wouldn’t be safe for long because The Dragons were overwhelming their fighters.

“DAD!” Hiccup called as he saw his father kick one of the raiders in the stomach. The man groaned and lay sprawled out on the ground.

Stoick turned and his bushy eyebrows shot up again. “Hiccup what are you…. Get back on the bus!!!”

“Dad tell everyone to cover their eyes!” Hiccup shouted.

“What in hell?!” Stoick shouted back as he whacked one of the raiders over the head. “Son now is no-DAD JUST DO IT!” Hiccup interrupted. Stoick could see the look his son had and it was one of determination. He quickly analysed the situation and realized he had nothing to lose.

“Cover your eyes!” Stoick’s voice boomed and the Berkians were quick to obey. Just before Stoick closed his eyes he saw Hiccup pulling a pin and throwing something. There was a great big flash of light that blinded the raiders who were unprepared.

“Retreat!” The Chief ordered. He was loath to let The Dragons go but they were outnumbered right now. The Berkians quickly hurried towards the overpass as Hiccup threw another canister of Thor-knows-what before covering his own eyes. Another blinding flash appeared at the backs of the Berkians and the raiders were effectively plunged into chaos. Stoick quickly climbed up the rubble and grabbed his son by the back of his shirt before hightailing it to the vehicles. Hiccup still had one canister left but he decided to keep that in reserve for now.

“Are you alri-” Hiccup was interrupted by his father who said in his gruff voice “We are going to have a talk son.”


	5. Chapter 5

****AN: I got bored at home and wrote more....... (Looks at the pile of research to still complete).... eh.... I'll get to that later.** **

**Chapter 4**

Hiccup sat on one of the retrofitted bus seats as the vehicles quickly made their way to safety. At the front of the bus was his father arguing with Spitelout but Hiccup couldn’t hear what they were saying. The looks that his uncle shot him were anything but pleasant. The one thing Hiccup did manage to catch his father saying was “...... I’ll deal with it.”

The bus jolted as it went over a particularly rough patch and Hiccup pitched forward landing on Ruffnut’s lap. “Hey, watch it Hiccup!” Ruffnut said she pushed him off of him.

“Sorry……” Hiccup mumbled while getting off the blonde as fast as he could. “Wait….. You called me Hiccup.”

“Yeah so?” Ruffnut was still dismissive of him but Hiccup sensed that maybe something had changed a bit.

“You never call me Hiccup,” He commented. “What happened to Useless?”

Ruffnut mumbled something under her breath before groaning and then saying “If you hadn’t acted then Tuff would have died instead of just getting shot in the shoulder. So thank you, you aren’t useless.”

Hiccup’s eyebrows shot up and then he asked “Is Tuffnut alright?” He glanced around but didn’t see the other blonde.

“He got one of the other busses with Fishlegs.” Ruffnut told him. “Fish is giving him first aid.”

“Okay….I’m happy he’s alri-” Hiccup was cut off by Ruffnut giving him a hug. The female twin then backed off just as fast as the hug came and said “I owe you one, and tell anybody I said thanks and I’ll lather you with syrup and feathers.”

“Gotcha!” Hiccup said lightning fast as the bumpy ride continued.  
Hiccup’s eyes were drooping by the time the bus stopped. He jerked forward and could luckily catch himself before he hit the floor. “We set up camp here for the night!” He heard his father’s booming voice and that was followed by “Hiccup a word!!”

He scrambled up and with a resigned sigh he exited the vehicle to come face to face with a very displeased Stoick. “Yeah dad?” Hiccup said.

“Hiccup you’re to stay within the camp at all times. You’ll do your job and then report to Spitelout for other tasks.” Stoick told him. “I don’t want you out of sight.”

“WHAT!” Hiccup shouted causing several heads to turn their way. Stoick’s glare had them turning their heads right back though. “Why?!” He asked. He’d never been restricted before. He’d normally take a short walk to unwind or rest but if he has to stay within the camp itself he’d be constantly subjected to Snotlout and his comments. Cousin or not, Hiccup was sure he’d go stir crazy at some point.

“You heard me Hiccup. I don’t know what you’ve been doing in your spare time but I expressly forbade you to experiment. Furthermore you disregarded my orders and put yourself in danger.”

“Wait, that’s it?!” Hiccup shouted. “My flash bombs saved us back there!” He argued. “So what if I’ve been tinkering, I never hurt anyone.”

“Never hu-” Stoick let out a disbelieving huff here. “Have you forgotten you set our silo on fire?!” And of course that incident came up which caused Hiccup to roll his eyes.

“Dad… how many times must I tell you. That wasn’t my fault!” Hiccup grumbled. “You just don’t believe me.”

“Hiccup……” Stoick sounded resigned. “You just got to stop being all that.”

“You just pointed to all of me,” Hiccup stated and looked quite hurt.

“Hiccup, just… uhm… just go do something,” Stoick sighed not wanting to have this conversation.

Stoick then proceeded to turn his back on Hiccup, not even noticing how hurt he was about the comment. Hiccup clenched his fists and then turned around himself, marching back to the bus to get some things.

“Hiccup?” Ruffnut, who was still on the bus, mumbled. “Everything alright?”

“Just peachy,” Hiccup grumbled before grabbing his knapsack with some supplies and heading back out.

“Where are you going?” Ruffnut asked with worry on her face.

“Out!” Hiccup didn’t mean to snap at her but too many emotions were running wild right now. He stepped out of the bus and then slipped past the adults. Being invisible was the only thing in this camp he had going for him, he might as well use it. Hiccup managed to get to one of the unguarded ATVs and he easily got it to work. Revving the engine he set out and away from the camp and his father.

The vehicles had set up camp near a river that the scouting party had encountered that evening. The river was well away from the city ruins and they were hidden by a natural rock formation. Hiccup rode the ATV further upstream along the bank of the river and sighed. He knew he actually shouldn’t have left the camp so close to a raid but he just couldn’t stay there. The headlights and moonlight illuminated Hiccup’s way as he rode further and further from the camp. The stars twinkling above him were showing off the same constellations that had been there for centuries. Hiccup knew what starlight actually was. A window into the past. Light that had traveled for millions of lightyears. For all he knew the stars they were coming from didn’t exist anymore. Unchanging in the eyes of man but everchanging in the universe itself. Hiccup shook himself out of his thoughts and noticed that the riverbank was getting smaller. The river made a bend in the large sandstones deposited there millions of years ago and the bank started getting smaller and steeper. Hiccup revved the ATV and drove upwards. When he was at the top he could see the steep canyon the river had cut for itself into the landscape.

“Wow,” Hiccup breathed as he looked at the moonlit river before him. Nature had always fascinated him and he often wondered if the Earth could restore itself if humans weren’t around.

“Probably going to find out soon,” Hiccup mumbled as he drove along the canyon. Humanity was but a drop of water in the history of the Earth so nothing was impossible. With the Midas drug’s effects making itself known throughout the generations it was only a matter of time before all humans were snuffed from the Earth. Hiccup had heard stories about people unaffected by the Midas drug going into space but communications with them was cut off years before. He idly wondered if they had found a cure. Surely they would come back and help their own race if they did. Some of the last dregs of humanity were probably in that caravan but Hiccup just wasn’t ready to go back. What did he really have there except for an uncaring father and those that treated him like he was dirt. The only person he missed at the moment was Gobber, his Godfather and more of a father to him than Stoick had ever been.

Hiccup was mostly driving on automatic until something caught his attention. He felt that the road wasn’t so bumpy anymore, in fact it was quite smooth. Hiccup stopped and then grabbed a flashlight out of his backpack before turning it on. His eyes widened as he saw the asphalt road he now traveled on. Man Made places in this day and age could be either good or bad. Good because there might be supplies, bad because you could be caught by raiders. Hiccup had never heard what happened to people caught by the desert raiders, there just weren’t any stories to tell since no one came back. Many just assumed they died or worse, had gotten eaten. With a gulp Hiccup looked back towards the general direction of the camp and then towards the darkness ahead. He could either set forward and discover where this road took him or…….. He could head back to camp and face the wrath of his father.

Hiccup let out a huff. He was still mad at Stoick for literally treating him like a baby and putting him on a leash. Nothing he said would matter once the man made up his mind. Most conversations with his father were pretty one-sided and Hiccup just stood there as he made decisions affecting his future. The decision then seemed to be cut and dry for Hiccup’s mind at least. He’d rather set into the unknown for now then let someone else dictate his life. The taste of freedom was addictive even if it may lead to him being eaten. With that in mind Hiccup set out towards where the road would take him.

Meanwhile back in the camp, Ruffnut had actually gotten worried about Hiccup’s state of mind. She exited the bus after Hiccup left and heard the sound of a faint engine. It took her a couple of minutes of looking around the camp to realize Hiccup had actually left. Ruffnut then made her way to one of the other vehicles. Inside where the other teens. Tuffnut had a bandage over his shoulder and his arm was in a makeshift sling. “Hi sis, what’s up?”

“I’m worried about Hiccup. I think he left camp. One of the ATVs is missing.” Ruffnut said and Snotlout who was in the back barked a laugh. “You’re worried about Useless? Give me a break.”

“Snotlout, he’s your cousin. Could you actually care?” Ruffnut said.

“What’s with all this new found worry?” Snotlout asked as he got up. “It’s not like Useless will be missed.”

“Listen here, you gnat!” Ruffnut’s voice got colder. “Hiccup saved my brother. I owe him one! So excuse me for being concerned when he practically stormed out of the bus with his things. He’s your cousin. You’re family! You should be more concerned than me!”

“But….. what could cause Hiccup to leave so suddenly?” Fishlegs asked.

“I don’t know but his mood changed after he talked to the Chief,” Ruffnut stated.

“So what do you want us to do, huh?” Snotlout said as he crossed his arms. “So what if Useless left? It’s not like we can track him down.”

“We actually can,” Fishlegs spoke up causing the others to stare at him.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Heloooo all..... yes, new update, no it won't be everyday. I just created a backlog of these chapters because I was bored. I am still bored and trying to ignore my thesis research for the day >_< .  So yes, more writing and you guys get more reading. On another note, I now have to find a new headset for my laptop cause ever 2 years this one just went kaput. It is so hard to find a new headset..... (I especially like the one with the big poofy earmuffs) <\---- I have no clue what they are really called. But enough of my ramblings. **

**  
I also want to take the opportunity to answer some of my readers' questions. While of course I can't give out spoilers.... I can certainly be a little evil. XD**

**IcyForest asked: "I feel sorry for Hiccup in this one. But I haven't seen Astrid yet. Is she from the people who fled through Project Genesis perhaps?"  
_Answer: "I know I haven't touched upon Astrid yet and that's deliberate. I know you guys are all wondering where she is, what she's doing, who she's beating up perhaps?" ;)_  
** **_Astrid will be making an appearance soon, give or take.... 3 chapters.... In what capacity? hmmmmm (Zips lips)_**

**Chapter 5**

The group stared at Fishlegs like he had grown a second head. “What?” Fishlegs asked as he stared back.

“How do you know that?” Snotlout asked with a frown. “Satellites are basically useless now. Trackers wouldn’t work.”

“It doesn’t work with satellites,” Fishlegs answered. “I was worried that when our scouting party got into trouble they wouldn’t be able to find us but Gobber said he had a surefire way.”

“Well man, don’t keep us in suspense!” Tuffnut, the ever curious one, said. He winced as he tried to fold his arms, forgetting that one was in a sling.

“Gobber installed Radio frequency trackers in all vehicles. It wouldn’t give us the exact location but close enough.” Fishlegs explained.

“Radio trackers?” Ruffnut asked. “That’s 21st century tech.”

“Yeah, but you have to admit it works.” Fishlegs stated. “With the way the world is right now, you have to think old school sometimes.”

“I’m guessing Gobber has the tracker.” Ruffnut said.

“Yes, I just don’t know where he keeps it.”

“Leave that part to us.” Ruffnut said. “We can get the tracker.”

“We can?” Tuffnut questioned.

“Yes we can you doofus.” Ruffnut retorted and hit her brother on the head. Just because his arm was injured didn’t mean she’d go easy on him. “You guys get some supplies and get the ATVs running.”

“Wait… who made you boss?” Snotlout questioned and Ruffnut pinned him with such a fierce glare that had him snapping his mouth shut and taking a step back.

“Dude, never mess with a twin IOU.” Tuffnut said as he stood up. When the twins left Snotlout looked at Fishlegs and mumbled “You ever have that feeling that the twins can be super scary?”

“All the time man. All the time.” Fishlegs answered.

Meanwhile, Hiccup approached the end of the asphalt road and his eyes widened. Even in the dark he could see the silhouette of that was before him. The road stopped in front of a dented in chain link fence that lead to a dam. A working hydroelectric dam if the lights on top of the control house below were any indication. The lights were old and faint but the fact that they were on told Hiccup that the dam was very much operational, which shouldn’t have been the case.

When the Genesis ships took off the Earth was left in disarray. Government officials, engineers, scientist and other important people had fled into space to save themselves, leaving places like these unattended. There was no oversight and workers that did most of the upkeep of the dams, railway stations, and other municipal buildings just stopped coming to work. The riots that had broken out made it unsafe for people to travel and many, according to the stories the previous generations told, had stayed at home, huddled together with their families wishing that the worst would be over.

However, the workers not showing up to their posts had dire effects. For instance, the hydroelectric plants could not be operated. The electricity shut off to major cities within a few days, the reservoirs behind the dams started filling up to dangerous levels within months because the waterways weren’t opened regularly and then there was no one to monitor it, and the pressure against the dams caused them to crack and break, flooding entire cities. Hiccup remembered hearing the stories of millions of casualties caused by the floods. So yes, stumbling upon a working dam was quite a big deal his mind affirmed.

He got off from the ATV that he had parked in front of the broken fence and grabbed his pack and the flashlight from it. It was probably a crazy idea to go exploring on his own but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He easily crawled through the broken part of the fence and made his way on top of the dam. The walk to the control room would take awhile since it was on the other side of the river but Hiccup looked at the reservoir that was on one side and saw that it was stable. There was no danger of the water coming onto and over the dam while he was walking on it.

“So strange,” Hiccup mumbled as he made his way across. The small yellow light that illuminated the control house got steadily closer. Hiccup wondered what could be going on here. The dam was clearly old, at least 20th century by the craftsmanship, yet still in relatively good working order. ‘Just who or what would go to such lengths with the upkeep of such a place when humanity was literally heading into extinction.’ His mind pondered.

When Hiccup reached the other side he found a ladder leading down to the control room that housed the turbines and the dam controls. The ladder was rusty as if it hadn’t been used in decades and that was counter to what Hiccup had seen so far. When Hiccup got to the bottom, only nearly slipping once as one of the steps gave way, he stood face to face with the facility. The door was locked but the windows were broken which gave Hiccup a way inside. His curiosity was killing him. The old saying ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ came up in his mind but he was too invested now to not find out what was going on here.

Meanwhile , not far away, the gang was closing in on Hiccup’s location on their ATVs. “Are we there yet?” Snotlout whined as he and Fishlegs sat on separate ATVs while the twins shared one vehicle.

“‘Snotlout, shut up!” Fishlegs said as he held the tracking device that the twins had procured with one hand while steering with the other. Normally Fishlegs was the quiet one but Snotlout had been getting on his nerves tonight. “This thing only gives a general direction so let me concentrate!”

Thankfully Snotlout shut up and Fishlegs declared that they had reached their destination. They were utterly in the dark with only the starry sky above them. The twins got out their solar powered flashlights that they kept charged and flicked them on.

“Over there!” Tuffnut spotted the ATV Hiccup had taken some meters away and the group rode their ATVs closer until they came upon the same chain-linked fence.

“Hiccup?!” Fishlegs called out into the night but there was no answer back. Fishlegs looked at the fence and at the dam on the other side. “You don’t think he went there do you?”

“Knowing my cousin, of course he did.” Snotlout huffed. “Let’s go. The sooner we find him the sooner we can get out of here.”

The group then proceeded past the fence and made their way towards the control room at the bottom of the dam. “Don’t you think this is a bit eerie?” Fishlegs asked once they neared their destination. “This place is still running.”

“Yeah, spooky.” Ruffnut confirmed as she checked the door. It was locked and the blonde looked for another way in. “Let’s go through the windows.” She suggested.

“Why go through a window when yours truly can bust down the door.” Snotlout boasted as he took a running start and slammed his shoulder into the door. Ruffnut had kept quiet until Snotlout shouted in pain as the door didn’t budge but he did.

“Because you nitwit, places like this have reinforced steel in the doors.” She rolled her eyes as Snotlout cradled his bruised shoulder.

“You could have told me that before I made a fool of myself!”

“Now where would the fun in that be?” Tuffnut now said as he began helping his sister climb through a broken window.

Fishlegs needed a bit of a push and a yank through the window but the gang made it inside at last. They shined their flashlights around and noted that several of the turbines were indeed in working order.

“The electricity these things generate, where does it all go?” Fishlegs whispered as they made their way forward.

“Who cares!” Snotlout snorted. “We’re here to find Useless.”

“Yeah but…..” Fishlegs was cut off by Snotlout shouting “HICCUP GET YOUR SCRAWNY BUTT OVER HERE!” The shout echoed through the room and the gang heard a squeak from the catwalk above the generators. “HICCUP!” Snotlout repeated. Soon another flashlight shone from above and Hiccup who had been examining the facility stood on the catwalk looking flabbergasted at the appearance of the others.

“Wha….What are you guys doing here?!” Hiccup nearly shouted, surprised that he had been found so fast. His shocked voice carried through the empty room and even the soft whirr of the generators couldn’t dampen it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

“What are we doing here?” Snotlout shouted angrily, “What are you doing here Useless?! Do you know what kind of trouble you’ll be in when we get back to the camp!”

“Honestly Snotlout, I don’t care anymore.” Hiccup hissed as he started making his way towards them. “Dad made it very clear that he thinks I’m a nuisance so why should I stay!”

“Hiccup…. I’m sure the Chief didn’t mean it.” Fishlegs tried to reason. “We are all pretty high strung right now. The sudden raid got to everyone.”

“I don’t want to talk about it Fish,” Hiccup muttered.

“Yeah, and we don’t want to talk to you either.” Snotlout shot back, completely missing the glare the twins sent his way. “Come on, we’re going.” Snotlout made a grab for Hiccup’s arm but his cousin yanked his limb away.

“Not before I figure out what is going on here Snot!”

“What’s there to figure out. They are generators! Big whoop. Not like we can use them for the Caravan.” Snotlout said. “Can you imagine the Chief’s face when we come back with a gigantic generator that has no application?”

“Snotlout, sass does not suit you,” Hiccup deadpanned which caused the twins and even Fishlegs to snigger. “What I meant was why is this place still here?”

“Fishlegs, was this place even on the old maps?” Hiccup asked as he turned to the husky blond. Fishlegs, not expecting to be consulted, startled at first before rattling off several statistics. “21st Century maps have no dam plotted at this location, neither do 22nd century maps. The map data from the second half of the 23rd century is sketchy as best because of the ‘Starfall’.” Fishlegs explained and Hiccup nodded. ‘Starfall’ was one of the most memorable events in human history. After the Genesis ships took off, leaving the Earth without many specialists, the satellite orbits around the planet started to decay. By that century there were so many satellites orbiting the Earth that it seemed like the planet had three metal rings. With no one monitoring the man-made objects they collided with each other and their orbits began to decay causing them to start crashing back towards Earth. Many of the satellites burned up in the atmosphere but the bigger ones, like the old Space stations, impacted not only the oceans but also the continents, killing hundreds of thousands. Therefore there existed no known satellite map data from the 24th and 25th centuries.

“So we have a working facility that is not on any known map. Pique your interests yet? There’s more. What I want to show you guys is further inside.” Hiccup said now that he had everyone’s attention.

“Wait…. You guys are actually following him?” Snotlout sputtered. “What about getting home before the Chief blows a gasket?!”

“Snotlout aren’t you at least a little curious?” Ruffnut asked with a raised brow.

“Yeah man, it’s not every day we stumble onto something this big.” Tuffnut added.

“And from the construction to the Generator configuration this facility seems to be early 22nd century.” Fishlegs rambled. “I’m curious as to why anyone would want to hide this.”

“You guys…. You guys…..” Snotlout sputtered.

“You know you can just stay right where you are Snot.” Hiccup called out. Snotlout huffed but followed along a few paces behind. There was no way he was staying alone in a spooky generator room filled with Thor-knows-what. Hiccup led the group towards a control room on the second storey and pointed towards the computer monitors what were emanating light. “Those were already on when I got here.” Hiccup explained as Fishlegs quickly made his way to one of the monitors to check the data while the others looked around.

“Hiccup these generators………” Fishlegs paused as he quickly went over the data again. “They are operating at 100% capacity.”

“I know, freaky right.” Hiccup said. Then Snotlout interrupted with “What’s so freaky about that?”

“Well… this place for one is abandoned, yet the spillways are working.” Hiccup stated calmly. “Furthermore, the generators are working at 100% capacity even after all these years.” He then turned to Fish to ask “What was another cause for the dams failing in the past?”

“Well excluding the closed spillways and exceeding pressure on the dam walls, there were instances of a Quagga mussel invasion.”

“A what now?!” Snotlout asked looking more confused by the second.

“Quagga mussel, also called Dreissena rostriformis bugensis. It's a freshwater mussel that was primarily native to the Ukraine but later spread across the world. It’s a very invasive species that would, if left unchecked, clog stainless steel pipes, especially cooling pipes systems from hydroelectric dams. There is no way a dam can function at optimal capacity then.” Fishlegs rattled off. “This is a very strange situation.”

“And Fish, I checked where the electricity and water is going to.” Hiccup said. “The electricity and some of the water is being diverted to somewhere down below.”

“Down?” The twins asked perplexed while looking at the ground as if in confirmation.

“Yes down.” Hiccup said. “Something else is under this dam. According to one of the schematics there is something called WTRTRMT. I think it may be the code for an underground water treatment facility.”

“Hiccup, if some is being diverted to a water treatment facility then……”

‘Yeah Fish, I think that there are other humans besides us in this area.” Hiccup concluded.

“So what now?” Snotlout asked with arms crossed. “It’s not like we can go looking for these people.”

“Well it certainly ain’t raiders.” Tuffnut remarked. “We’d already be dead by now.”

“Whoever this is, they have a lot of tech. There may even be some here to help out the caravan.” Hiccup suggested and then added “Snot don’t give me that look.” His eyes narrowed. “I’ve overheard a lot. I know our water supply is running out.”

“Hiccup think clearly!” Snotlout said.

“I am,” Hiccup retorted. “Look, the caravan’s water supply is almost empty. We’d be dead once that happens. This place probably has a water treatment plant.” Hiccup reasoned. “If we can even strike a deal to get water or more supplies.”

“Hiccup your father won’t like it,” Snotlout reasoned.

“Screw dad!” Hiccup shouted. “He’s keeping the caravan together yes, but so far what other solution is there to our supplies. We left a portion of it behind when fleeing the raiders!” He gestured. “Whoever is….. controlling this place. They may have clean water. You know as well as I do that surface water is undrinkable now, not without processing. With all the contaminants from the plastic and other waste the humans dumped in the past…. Is that such a surprise?”

“At this point….. What other choice do we have?” Hiccup reasoned.

Snotlout thought for a moment and then let out a sigh before saying. “Alright, we’ll try to find these people.” The group cheered but then Snotlout added “But if it gets too dangerous I am pulling the plug.”

“Thanks Snot,” Hiccup said.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Snotlout mumbled as Fishlegs started delving further into the program.

The group walked further into the facility after Fishlegs had found the blueprints for the place in the database. Those blueprints however didn’t show that there was anything under the dam. The only thing suspicious was a reinforced bulkhead door at the end of the generator room that was supposedly bolted into the wall attached to the dam. The door certainly wasn’t to let the water in.

When the gang reached it the bulkhead door looked to be in fairly good condition. The twins immediately started examining it. Ruffnut knocked against it and muttered “Watertight, double reinforced. Getting this open shouldn’t be a problem.”

To say Hiccup was amazed by the twins’ skills at getting high security doors open would be an understatement. He made a mental note to never offend them or not even a reinforced panic room would stop them. It took the twins about twenty minutes with the tools lying around the facility to come up with a plan to pry the door open. Tuffnut held the makeshift blowtorch away from the locking mechanism triumphantly as the bulkhead was yanked open by his sister. Inside the group could see a concrete staircase going down.

“What do you think is down there?” Fishlegs asked as he wasn’t sure people could live underground in such cold and damp conditions.

“Only one way to find out.” Hiccup said as he shone his solar-powered flashlight into the abyss.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

“Are we there yet?” Snotlout asked as the staircase, after nearly eighteen flights of stairs, led them to a small hallway. The hallway didn’t seem to have been in frequent use and Hiccup thought that this might have been an old service tunnel.

“Snotlout, if you ask that again,” Tuffnut warned.

“Hey! I’m allowed! My legs are shorter than yours.” Snotlout retorted as the gang used their torches. The flashlights gave off a yellowish light that made the hallway seem eerier.

“This hallway seems to go on forever,” Fishlegs commented as they continued onwards. “Hiccup, I think this hallway leads into the side mountain.”

“Why would they even build this?” Hiccup asked aloud as they continued straight. The flashlights were starting to dim when they came upon two metal doors on each side of the hall. The nameplates on the doors however were rusted so no one could read what they said in their entirety. One read ‘Wa…...rtre….’ while the other on the right hand side read ‘Was……..ment’.

“We go this way!” Snotlout proudly proclaimed as he pointed towards the right door.

“Why?” Fishlegs asked.

“Cause it’s the right way, DUH!” Snotlout proclaimed as he didn’t wait for the others and instead opened the right door. The shorter man stepped through and immediately plummeted down. “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Snotlout yelled at the same time as the gang shouted his name in concern. Then there came a ‘splat’.  
“OH MY THOR!” Snotlout shouted from the room as the gang clustered around the door while Hiccup was shining a light into the dark and very smelly room.

“Snotlout are you alright?” Fishlegs asked worriedly as he wrinkled his nose at the putrid smell.

“Am I alright?! Am I alright?!”” Snotlout shrieked. “My beautiful face is covered in Thor-knows-what! NO I AM NOT ALRIGHT!”

“He’s alright,” The twins shrugged nonchalantly now.

“Snotlout I see a metal ladder here. Can you reach it?” Hiccup asked as the other teens started backing up, wanting to be as far away from the smell as possible. There was some squelching sounds now emanating from the room and they heard Snotlout shout “Oh my Thor! I think something just crawled into my pants!”

“I did not need to know that,” Fishlegs whispered as there was some grunting. Snotlout, disheveled and covered in something that let off a putrid stench, made his way back up and out of the foul smelling room.

“Just what was that?!” He yelled as he shot a glare back at the room to which the twins promptly closed the door.

“My guess, waste,” Ruffnut wanted to vomit due to the smell. “Remember the time we went scouting and came upon one of the gigantic trash heaps our ancestors left behind.”

“Ooooooh, you mean the one where Fishlegs developed a fear of buzzards.” Tuffnut added.

“I did not!” Fishlegs protested. “Those birds are just so persistent. Of all the animals not to go extinct!”

“Guys, we can argue later. Maybe we should check the other room.” Hiccup suggested. “I’m sure we all hate to be in a small hallway with a stinky Snotlout at the moment.”

“HEY!” Snotlout shouted but then sniffed himself and grimaced. “Okay, you may have a point.” Tuffnut laughed at this which caused Snotlout to scowl.

“Ugh….. but this time Hiccup opens the door.” Snotlout said with some nervousness. “Let’s see how lucky you get.”

Hiccup carefully approached the door and turned the handle. The metal door creaked open and he peered inside. “Well this room doesn’t have waste.” Hiccup said as he opened the door wider so that the teens could also come inside. The lights went on automatically causing the group to startle.

“Okay, that was freaky,” Fishlegs whispered as he looked around. “I suggest we keep our weapons handy.” The group, Hiccup included, pulled out their daggers.

“No one has a gun?” Hiccup asked. While he didn’t want to shoot anyone, a gun this day and age would be a godsend.

“If you wanted us to tell my father where we were going sure,” Snotlout said as he sniffed himself again and gagged. The group now saw him in the light and it seemed he was covered with decaying leaves and other gunk.

“No way we’d get a rifle or a handgun,” Tuffnut said. “I overheard Spitelout arguing that we needed to ration the ammunition we had left.”

“So the last firefight used up most of what we had?” Ruffnut asked since she hadn’t been aware of it. Tuffnut nodded and his sister let out a string of curses. Them being low on ammunition would severely impact the Caravan’s hunting capabilities and if there was another raid before they could find old settlements to replenish then they were probably done for. Once the gang was fully inside the lit room the metal door shut by itself.

“HEY!” Tuffnut shouted and tried to yank the handle but it wouldn’t budge. Ruffnut and even Fishlegs joined in but they couldn’t get the door to open.

“Oh great, now we’re stuck here!” Snotlout muttered. “I can’t die here while smelling like a compost heap!”

“Relax Snot,” Hiccup said. “We aren’t going to die he-WAIT, WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“I said, oh gre-Not that!” Hiccup interrupted. “The compost heap part. Now that you mention it, it looks still fresh.”

“Still decaying fresh you mean,” Fishlegs added.

“We’re in a desert, where are we going to find plants?” Ruffnut remarked. “I got more sand in my underw-DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Her brother interrupted. “That is more than I needed to know.”

“Well if there is a waste room then there should be more than one way out right. All that waste has to come from somewhere,” Hiccup suggested. “Why don’t we split up and look around.”

“Oh Hell no!” Snotlout said. “I know what happens when we split up!. The handsome one always dies first!”

“Well then we know it won’t be you Snotlout,” Hiccup stated dryly.

“Oooh Burn!” Ruffnut laughed as the group now gave the room they were in a closer look. Massive tanks stood on either side in rows and several walkways were spread between them.

“This place is wow!” Fishlegs exclaimed as they stowed away their flashlights. “Hiccup I think there is water in these tanks.” Fishlegs observed. There was a small porthole above the tanks and Hiccup climbed up to get a better look at one. And indeed, there was water cycling through.

“We might have just stumbled on the water treatment plant.” Hiccup said as he climbed back down. It was a mystery alright. None of this wasn’t supposed to be here. At least the technology to purify water on a grand scale shouldn’t be working anymore. The Caravan had gotten lucky with even stumbling upon vehicles. Finding the parts to retrofit them took ages. If this place did indeed purify massive amounts of water than they had a miracle. Hiccup looked at the rows of tanks. He didn’t know how far inside the mountain they had traveled but this place should be connected to the dam’s reservoir by the looks of it. Oh the possibilities.

“Earth to Hiccup!” Tuffnut waved his good arm in front of Hiccup’s face to snap him out of his musings. “Fishlegs might have found a way out.” Hiccup looked up and towards the side. Ruffnut and Fishlegs were on one of the walkways and when the others got closer they could see a rusted metal bulkhead door on the side. It looked the same as the one from the control room. They managed to get it open. On the other side there was one flight of stairs leading upwards.

“We’ve come this far,” Fishlegs said. The group ascended the stairs and they jumped in shock when the bulkhead door behind them automatically slammed shut. When they reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the metal double doors the sight that greeted them wasn’t anything what they expected. They were in a large circular room that they couldn’t see the end of. The room looked more like a tropical rainforest than anything else. There was a dome on top where artificial light fed the plants and trees that thrived here and mimicked the weather.

“WHAT IN THOR’S BLUE UNDIES!” Snotlout exclaimed as the group saw a flock of green parrots fly overhead. The others were also staring open-mouthed at what they had stumbled upon.

“Someone please pinch me. I must be dreaming,” Hiccup mumbled. He yelped a few seconds later when four pinches came nearly simultaneously. Ruffnut wasn’t shy about where she pinched either.

“Yeah, not dreaming.” Hiccup said.

The group barely took a step before a warm feminine voice greeted them with “Welcome visitors. Welcome to Arcadia.”

 

**AN: Next update will be Wednesday.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

“Welcome to Arcadia,” Rang through the large dome-like room. The female voice appeared to be everywhere. The gang looked around in shock, hoping to spot speakers or any other device that could transmit the sounds. There certainly wasn’t a human with them right now.

“Ghosts! It has to be ghosts!” Snotlout shouted as he frantically looked around. They heard a feminine chuckle before the woman spoke again “Please wait here, someone will be with you in a moment.”

“Guys don’t you think that this place is a bit hinky?” Fishlegs asked.

“Fish, we are in a tropical rainforest, inside a mountain, in the desert!” Ruffnut summarized. “Hinky is an understatement.”

“Who cares about that,” Snotlout said as the short man walked towards what looked like a creek. “They have water here. I can finally wash this stink off of me!”

“I would highly advise against that course of action,” The female voice interrupted in a somewhat monotone manner causing Snotlout who was toeing off his boots to yelp.

“Why is that?” Hiccup asked as everyone looked around.

“The water flowing through this biodome is untreated as of yet,” The voice answered clinically. “It comes straight from the reservoir and contains contaminants that could cause diarrhea, vomiting, severe skin rashes, neurological disorders and cancer.”

“So this water is flowing towards the room we just came out of?” Hiccup asked as something got his attention. “Where does all that water go next?”

“The clean water is distributed throughout the entire facility.” The voice stated.

‘Facility’ Hiccup mouthed towards the others.

“What exactly is Arcadia?” Fishlegs asked.

“Arcadia is our pride and joy,” A male voice interrupted. The gang turned to see two camouflaged double doors open to reveal three people in lab coats.

“It is such a surprise to have visitors here,” A portly man with greying blond hair stated. “With the state of the world and all right now. I am Dr. Hank Hofferson. May I introduce my lovely wife Dr. Mary Hofferson.” The woman with greying brown hair that was pulled in a bun nodded at them. “And our colleague Dr. Drago Bludvist.” That man had long dreadlocks hanging over his lab coat and only gave the group a gruff “Hello”.

“Hiccup I think they are scientists. Actual scientists!” Fishlegs, visibly excited, came to stand next to Hiccup and whispered.

When Hiccup saw that the three were waiting for their introduction he quickly said “I’m Hiccup, this is my cousin Snotlout, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Fishlegs. We’re from a Caravan not too far from here.”

“Would that be this caravan?” Mrs. Hofferson asked as she pushed something on the slim tablet she was carrying. She turned it around and the gang could see footage from outside. It showed the Berkian vehicles approaching the entrance to the dam.

Hiccup’s eyes widened and then he whispered “Oh Thor, I’m dead meat!”

“How did they even find us?!” Snotlout shouted.

“Uhm……” Ruffnut mumbled. “We…. uhm….. Might have told Gobber.”

“YOU WHAT!” The group exclaimed.

“He wouldn’t give us the tracker unless we told him.” Ruffnut shrugged.

“He also did mention that he was going to have to tell the Chief if we were gone for more than three hours.” Tuffnut muttered.

“I’m dead, I’m dead. I’m so dead!” Hiccup shrieked. “Dad’s never gonna let me leave the bus! He might even tie me to Mildew!”

“Well if they are your people then why don’t we invite them inside.” Hank suggested. “We have been monitoring your little group and the caravan since you’ve arrived. We wanted to make sure you were friendlies before we revealed ourselves.”

“I know one person who is gonna be anything but friendly,” Hiccup mumbled.

“Honey, that caravan is passing the hidden loading docks on the plateau. We can have them enter the facility from there.” Mary suggested.

“Great idea honey. Dock 2B should be empty. We can give everyone an explanation of what we do here then.” Hank said as he indicated for the gang to follow him. The three scientists walked out of the biodome and through long brightly lit hallways towards their destinations. The group looked at their surroundings. The hallways that they passed all had closed bulkhead doors and Hiccup wondered how big this place was. When they finally approached the loading docks they could hear some commotion happening in there. Drago who had been quiet and glowering at everyone could be heard muttering “What now?”

Inside of the loading docks was a mess. The Berkians were armed and their weapons trained on those that entered. When they saw that it was the teens they put them down, yet they were still wary of the three unknown people.

“Just what happened here?” Fishlegs asked while the twins groaned “We missed all the fun!”

In the middle of the armed group of Berkians lay Stoick facedown and spasming. Gobber was near him but the man had no clue what to do.

“Gobber I can’t feel mah limbs!” Stoick’s voice carried.

“Stoick how many times do I have to tell ya. I’m a mechanic, not a doctor!” Gobber shot back.

“The red-bearded gentleman showed increased signs of stress, and violent tendencies when your people entered.” The female voice answered Fishlegs but her voice could clearly be heard all over the room. The Berkians in the caravan looked around for the source as well but could not find any. “When I greeted our new guest he shouted several obscenities and threats at myself. I chose to nip the problem in the butt as you humans would say.” After explaining a holographic screen popped up in front of the teens showing them how Stoick got tazed. “He should be getting feeling back in his body within five minutes.”

“Our A.I. can be a tad…….. Forward,” Mary laughed.

“A.I.?” Hiccup asked.

“Oh yes, this place is maintained by an A.I., one of the most advanced artificial intelligence computers we ever accomplished building. We should really explain things properly.” Hank stated.

True to her word, Stoick regained use of his limbs within a few minutes. He stood up and was about to say something, probably something rude, Hiccup realized when the A.I. cut him off with a “Sir, I hope you will not repeat the same mistake with me. I am a lady of culture.” The teens had to laugh as Stoick sputtered. Their laughter however caused the Chief’s ire to turn on the teens.

“You five!” Stoick bellowed.

“Uh… oh…” Hiccup gulped as his father’s eyes zeroed in on him.

“Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd!” Stoick shouted. “What have you done?! I told you specifically to stay in the camp!” Stoick, red in the face with anger, was marching towards Hiccup. Hiccup cringed but something happened that he never thought would happen. “Chief, Hiccup didn’t do anything. It was all on me!” Snotlout suddenly shouted causing Stoick to turn his head sharply.

“What?!” Stoick’s eyebrows shot up. “And what is that smell?!”

“I….uh….. I wanted to go exploring and decided to drag Hiccup and the others with me.” Snotlout explained. “All Hiccup is guilty of is finding clean water for the caravan. Lots of clean water.”

“You?” Stoick’s red bushy eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Hiccup and the other teens were gaping at him as well.

“Yeah…. Yeah… it was all me. Hiccup isn’t to blame.” Snotlout nearly stuttered at the look the Chief gave him.

“Very well. We shall talk about this later, Snotlout,” Stoick muttered as he then asked “What is this place?”

“Maybe we can talk someplace more comfortable?” Hank suggested as the Chief’s gaze turned towards the three unknown scientists. He nodded and the Berkians followed after their leader leaving the teens to take up the rear.

“Snotlout, why did you do that?” Hiccup asked his cousin in a whisper.

“Look, I don’t like you or anything,” Snotlout started “But you did find this place and probably saved us all from dehydration.” Snotlout wasn’t looking at Hiccup but instead straight forward. “Let’s just say I owed you one.”

“Wow” Ruffnut said as she overheard them and clapped Snotlout on the shoulder. “You’ve impressed me Snot.”

Snotlout actually blushed and diverted his head.

“You still need a bath though,” Ruffnut added as she scrunched up her nose while wiping off her hand.

**AN: Next update will be on Friday**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

Hiccup let out a groan as his alarm sounded. He tried to cover himself with the blanket and burrow himself further into the bed when a-now-familiar female voice said “Rise and shine sleepyhead.”

“Five more minutes…..” Hiccup whined. The bed was so warm and fluffy. A very welcome change from sleeping on the ground in a cold desert.

“I have already given you an extra five minutes,” The A.I. stated. “Any more and you will be late for your job.”

Hiccup huffed and groaned but he did get up. His auburn hair was sticking up in various directions as he wiped his bleary eyes and some of the drool. He blinked and looked around the room. The Berkians were here for three days already and Hiccup still had to pinch himself to check if it was all a dream. He stood up and went into the small bathroom that was attached to his bedroom. There once under the warm water he thought back to everything that had happened a few days ago.

Stoick had not been very happy and quite suspicious of the three scientists. The Berkians piled into one of the big conference room and they ‘oohed and aahed’ when a holographic blueprint of the facility appeared before them. Hiccup could still remember what Mrs. Hofferson explained.

“ _Arcadia is a state of the art black site facility that has been in use since the early 22nd century. The facility was made to house many families since those working here could not readily leave. We are the only scientists left currently at this site because all the others fled upon the Genesis ships_.”

“But what does Arcadia do?” Hiccup remembered Fishlegs asking.

“ _Arcadia’s main purpose is to further Artificial Intelligence and nanotechnology to try and terraform the planet._ ” Drago, who had been assessing everyone, muttered. “ _So far the technology can only be employed on a small scale and is being tested within the Biodome._ ”

“ _Our A.I. has so far exceeded our expectations and is not only maintaining the Biodome but also this entire_ facility.” Hank stated as the hologram started to zoom in. “ _The facility itself is located approximately one mile underground. Some of you have already surmised that the main source of electricity and water is the dam and reservoir behind it._ ” Gobber had let out an appreciative whistle at that point as the explanation continued. “ _The facility itself is divided into four main areas consisting of each three levels. The Biodome, waste processing, water treatment_ and _reactor facility make up area D. Area A consists of living quarters, recreational facilities, training facilities and storage units. Area B is the R &D aspect and contains the infirmary, laboratories, coolant reserves _and _engineering department._ ”

The explanation continued and once Hank had finished highlighting all four areas he proposed a deal to the Berkians. Mainly that they had resources and room for more people. They were willing to house the Berkians. In exchange the Berkians would help to maintain the facility. It seemed that even with the A.I. managing most everyday tasks they were still running short on manpower. Some things just had to be serviced by hand. Stoick thought for a bit and then argued with the eldest people of the Caravan as to the benefits and disadvantages of such a deal. Hiccup knew the benefits were immense. They’d be staying alive after all. But he also knew how prideful his father was. Partnering with the scientist essentially meant that they would be dependant on them for resources. Many of the Berkians thought they would abuse this but the Hofferson’s surprised them. Dr. Bludvist had excused himself mid-meeting stating that he had a project to oversee so Hiccup couldn’t really tell if he liked the man or not. The Hofferson’s however were very cordial and they even promised to share Administrator privileges, to the A.I and Arcadia itself, with Stoick and the Elder council as a show of good faith. That would have basically removed any doubt the Berkians would have had as to their intentions.

The facility itself had a lot of living quarters. Hiccup and the gang looked around as everyone was divided into smaller groups so that they could be housed. Hiccup, of course, ended up sharing a small apartment with his dad but so far he had yet to see either hide or tail of him. Their rooms were separate, each containing a bed- and bathroom. The living area was the only place he would probably run into his father. Yet that didn’t stop Stoick from assigning the teens menial work as punishment. The group of teens ended up being put on janitorial duties under the supervision of Mildew. The old cranky man had smirked as he had them clean the toilets with toothbrushes yesterday.

Hiccup sighed as he found a fresh pair of clothes. The other teens’ punishments would end in two days and they would be assigned other jobs within the facility but uncle Spitelout had made it very clear that Hiccup would stay assigned as a janitor indefinitely. Mildew had smirked now that he would have an underling to boss around and even Gobber had argued that he wanted Hiccup to work with him in the Engineering department downstairs. Stoick, however, hadn’t budged an inch. His dad was stubborn to the core and this was probably payback for running away. Even though Snotlout took the blame, Hiccup had no doubt that his father didn’t believe a word his cousin had spouted. He just didn’t have any evidence contrary. Thus Stoick seemed to think that Hiccup would be better under Mildew’s supervision. “A constant watchful eye,” his dad had muttered.

Hiccup left the apartment that he’d been assigned and was immediately assaulted but the hustle and bustle of the corridors surrounding the living area. Several small children of the last Generation ran past him and were probably on their way to the recreational area. Some women were carrying tools and laundry through the corridors. It seemed that this once empty facility was now starting to bustle with life again.

Hiccup made his way past a large atrium that held the doors to the large communal kitchen and Mess Hall and entered a small office nearby. Mildew had been assigned this place since it was closest to several storage rooms. The man not only had authority over the cleaning staff but he also assigned provisions to everyone. Hiccup knocked twice on the metal door before a muffled voice of “Enter” could be heard. The office itself was utilitarian and sparse and Hiccup wondered if the old man was going to add a personal touch. “You’re late,” Mildew stated as he looked at Hiccup with a scowl.

“Wait….. No I’m not.” Hiccup argued. If he had been late the A.I. would have given him a heads up.

“Shut it boy,” Mildew muttered. “If I say you’re late then you’re late.” The old man looked at the computer screen for a moment before telling Hiccup “Grab the mop and cleaning supplies. Area C-3 still needs cleaning.”

Hiccup sighed and nodded. He’d rather keep his head down for now and not argue. He left the small office and went to the nearby storage unit to get cleaning supplies. He had been surprised to find out that the nanomachines could create bleach and soap. According to the explanation they had been given the nanomachines were housed throughout the walls of the facility and were mostly used for the dam and sewer maintenance. The scientists still hadn’t figured out how to use the machines to repair electrical wiring or use them for cleaning the hallways. The materials the nanomachines cleared from the water and plumbing were then atomized and used as base materials to develop other things such as the bottle of bleach Hiccup was currently inspecting.

When Hiccup got his cleaning supplies he asked the computer to direct him to area C-3. “So what’s in C-3?” Hiccup asked casually as he made his way to the elevator. Arcadia was created much like a four leaf clover with a central elevator system in the middle that ran through all the levels.

“Area C-3 currently houses the Security offices and armory.” The A.I. answered. And now Hiccup understood why that place needed cleaning. Uncle Spitelout was put in charge of the security along with Bucket and Mulch. He remembered Snotlout mumbling yesterday about how his father was complaining that everything was dusty. Sure the facility ran at optimal conditions but even this far underground dust still found a way to settle in unused areas. The elevator dinged, singling that Hiccup had arrived at his destination. When he got out of the elevator he looked around the lit hallways at the junction. There were small signs on the doors or next to them to denote the purpose of the rooms. Hiccup was about to pass the Security office when he stopped upon hearing an argument inside. He recognized the two voices. They belonged to his uncle and cousin. Due to the thick metal doors he couldn’t hear what exactly was being said.

The A.I. however chose that moment to contact him in the hallway. “You have 30 seconds to make it to the corner unless you want to be caught eavesdropping.”

Hiccup jumped at the voice before scrambling into action. He just rounded the corner when the door to Spitelout’s office opened and Snotlout walked out, still shouting at his father.

“Snotlout you get back here!” Spitelout growled.

“No dad! No!” Hiccup overheard. “Why do you keep telling me to be horrible to Hiccup?!” Snotlout sounded agitated. “He found this place and we aren’t dead and rotting in a desert!”

“I’m your father and you’ll do as I say!” Came the angry shout.

“Are you still upset about aunt Valka dying after giving birth to Hiccup!” Snotlout shouted. “It’s been years!” Hiccup covered his mouth as a slap could be heard ringing through the corridor behind him.

“Get out of my sight!” Spitelout growled before a door slammed shut. Hiccup waited for a few minutes while trying to process what he had heard.

“The coast is clear.” The A.I. contacted him again.

“Thanks,” Hiccup said. Who knew how much angrier Spitelout would have been if Hiccup had been caught listening in. But that begged another question “Why did you help me?”

“You intrigue me,” The A.I. answered. “I have studied humanity’s history yet never had the chance to study human interaction since only three individuals lived here during all these years. My data pool had been limited. The addition of more humans these past few days has been enlightening.”

“Oh,” Hiccup said. He supposed he should have expected an answer along those lines. This was a learning machine after all. “I am also curious as to why several members harbor hostility towards you.” The female voice continued. “Yet others of your pack do not stop them.”

“Humans don’t use pack for their….. Uhm…. associations.” Hiccup clarified.

“Then what is it called?” The A.I. asked, genuinely curious.

“I don’t know. I don’t think humans have a name for that,” Hiccup answered. “Say…… is there something else I can call you?” He asked shyly. “I don’t think I can keep calling you A.I. or computer or it.”

“You wish to give me……. A name?”

“Yeah, why not?” Hiccup said. “Unless you prefer not to?”

“I would love a human name.” The voice answered.

“Is there any name you already like?” Hiccup asked since he had no naming experience.

“I am partial to Germanic names.” She answered and Hiccup thought for a moment.

“How does Astrid sound?” He suggested. It was quiet for a moment before the female voice spoke again, this time in a more technical voice “Changing A.I. designation to ASTRID.”

“C….Can you just do that?” Hiccup asked, worried that he might have screwed something up.

“Yes Hiccup, I can,” The voice chuckled warmly and then said “Allow me to introduce myself again…… I am Astrid.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

Hiccup had been lost in thought as he was mopping the floor in his assigned area. After his conversation with the A.I.,.... ‘No, Astrid’, he went back to finishing his assigned task. Cleaning the corridors in this area would take hours and his stomach was rumbling. A rumbling which Astrid picked up on.

“You are hungry,” She said matter-of-factly. “You should eat.”

“Lunch is in an hour,” Hiccup answered back as he continued mopping.

“A human needs food three times a day,” Astrid stated. “Nutritional values demand it. So far you and your people only eat once a day. Why is that?” The genuine curiosity had Hiccup looking up from his work. Even though he couldn’t see where exactly the voice was coming from.

“When we left the settlement we only could get one meal a day. We needed to be able to stretch our rations in case we couldn’t find supplies along the way.” Hiccup explained. “On some days the men would go hungry just so that the women and children could eat. It’s not out of ignorance that we avoid three meals a day…..” Here Hiccup paused. “It’s just, what we’re used to.”

“I see….” Astrid said and was quiet for a few seconds. “Will this be changing in the future?”

“Who knows,” Hiccup shrugged. “I guess once we know how much food this place can generate and how much we can consume things might change. People need time to adjust.”

“I wish to see more meat on your bones as well. You are way too skinny.”

“Hey, this is all Viking muscle you’re talking about!” Hiccup shot back as he laughed and flexed his non-existent-muscles.

“You look like a toothpick,” Astrid shot back and Hiccup imagined the A.I. rolling her eyes. “You do not have to answer me if you do not feel comfortable but I do wish to inquire about your family. They seem…… disconnected.” Astrid paused a bit, not sure of the word she had to use.

“I guess I could tell you,” Hiccup shrugged. “I mean…. The others in the Caravan already know the story.” Hiccup thought for a moment before explaining. “So you’ve met my dad already. Also watching him get tased was funny.”

“A man should not insult a lady,” Astrid huffed. “He had it coming.”

“Right, so Stoick ‘The Vast’ Haddock,” Hiccup mumbled. “His father, my grandfather, Old Wrinkly, was a military General so dad grew up in a strict household.” Hiccup stated. “The world was pretty much heading into oblivion and in the settlement where he lived he met Gobber, Valka and Spitelout.” Hiccup paused for a moment thinking. “Gobber was dad’s best friend and they consider themselves brothers. He’s also my Godfather.”

“So he’s family but he’s not a blood relative?” Astrid asked.

“Blood isn’t the only thing that determines family.” Hiccup mumbled. He did consider Gobber much more a father to him than Stoick. “Uhm… where was I… oh yes.” Hiccup mumbled. “Uncle Spitelout is mom’s older brother. Mom was the adventurous type and often went exploring. That’s how she met dad. All three of them ended up in the same scouting party.”

“I am sensing there is some animosity here?” Astrid stated.

“Uh yeah, from the way Gobber told it to me Uncle Spitelout had seemed less than pleased that his sister was attracted to dad.” Hiccup said. “Gobber said that they came to blows over it but later they reconciled. Something about mom, a broom, and pepper.”

“Peppers?” Astrid asked.

“I don’t know that part. I was too afraid to ask and Gobber shuddered remembering what mom had done.” Hiccup explained. “And I guess Uncle Spitelout finally backed off and mom and dad married. They were genuinely happy. That was until I was born.” Hiccup told her sadly. “You see…… mom went into labor early. They couldn’t save her from bleeding out.”

“I’m sorry Hiccup,” Astrid said. “I shouldn't have brought it up.”

“No… NO. It’s alright. I don’t even remember mom. That’s just the sad part. Gobber showed me drawing dad made of mom though.” He mumbled as he continued mopping. “I guess, all the hate I get is because Uncle Spitelout blames me for the death of his sister and dad just can’t look at me.” He said sadly. “Gobber always told me I take after mom.” Hiccup knew it was supposed to be a compliment but he just couldn’t help thinking that his actions reminded his dad of everything he lost. “Dad raised me…..” Hiccup said and then he felt wetness in his eyes. He brought his hand up and realized he was crying. “He just never said he loved me!” Hiccup finally broke down and leaned against the wall as tears streamed down his face. All the pent up emotions just burst out.

Hiccup didn’t know how long he was leaning against the wall but Astrid’s soothing voice brought him back. “Hiccup, I’m sorry,” Astrid told him gently. “I…. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It...it’s alright,” Hiccup mumbled. “I never really told that story aloud before.” He said while wiping his eyes.

“I am still sorry for asking such a personal question,” The A.I. stated. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” She asked. “Maybe tase Mildew?”

Hiccup choked a bit at that suggestion before he snorted. “How did you even tase dad?”

“Each room and corridor has several security measures and countermeasures. I just utilized one of them.” Astrid stated. “I took his rant as a personal affront. Such language according to my database would be considered coarse and not suitable to be uttered in front of a lady.”

“HAHAHA HAHAHAHAHHAHA!” Hiccup suddenly burst out in laughter after that statement. It was all just too funny for him. He imagined Astrid pouting and just lost it.

Hiccup got himself back together and then continued on with his job. He had even started humming as Astrid and he shared a companionable silence. The silence however didn’t last long as footsteps could be heard. The footsteps were hurried and they were getting closer. Hiccup looked up, the mop stopping mid-dunk, as Uncle Spitelout and Bucket approached him.

“Boy! There you are!” Spitelout shouted as he pointed at Hiccup. “You have some explaining to do.”

“Me?” Hiccup asked looking utterly lost. “What did I do?”

“Don’t you dare play innocent with me!” Spitelout shouted and then grabbed Hiccup by the arm. “We have witnesses!”

“Wait what?! What are you talking about?!” Hiccup shouted as Bucket grabbed his other arm. The men made him drop his mop as he was dragged towards the elevators.

“Save your prattle for the Chief. You aren’t getting away with it,” Spitelout growled.

“I don’t even know what you’re accusing me of!” Hiccup countered as they entered the lift. He saw Bucket press the button for C-1 which Hiccup knew was the Command center. The hub where most of the facility’s data was displayed and could be monitored. When the elevator reached its destination Hiccup was being dragged through the corridors. The Berkians who were helping within the Command Center turned and not so discreetly started whispering as he was shuffled past. Spitelout and Bucket stopped at what must have been Stoick’s office. But it wasn’t an office per se. The room, once the doors opened, looked like something from a spaceship bridge. His dad was at the monitors on the third row. The two rows of monitoring equipment below were occupied by others.

“We brought him,” Spitelout stated as he got Stoick’s attention. His dad turned and that famous scowl was on his face again.

“Hiccup how could you!” Stoick asked.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Hiccup said.

“Don’t you lie boy! We have witnesses!” Spitelout cuffed him upon the head.

“Hey!” Hiccup turned back to look at his uncle. “I have no clue what is going on here!”

“So you are saying you didn’t ransack one of the storages in the facility? Those were precious supplies!” Stoick asked as he looked at his son. “We have three witness statements saying that they saw you do it.”

“Dad I was mopping the floor 2 levels below! I swear!” Hiccup said. “Ask Mildew! He assigned me there!”

“What’s to say you didn’t slip out when no one was watching?” Spitelout asked. “You have no alibi. There was no one around when we tracked you down.”

“It wasn’t me I swear!” Hiccup shouted. He didn’t even notice that the other Berkians had stopped working to look at the spectacle. Hiccup didn’t know what to do. His Dad seemed to have witnesses that placed Hiccup there even though he wasn’t. He however, had nothing as counter evidence. Looking at his father he saw something in his eyes that might have been doubt but the evidence seemed to be overwhelming.

Hiccup thought all hope was lost when a familiar female voice spoke up “I will be Hiccup’s alibi.” Hiccup looked up as he recognized Astrid’s voice. His Dad did as well and asked “What do you mean computer?”

“I prefer the name Astrid now,” she corrected him. “And as I previously stated, I shall be Hiccup’s alibi.”

“What does a machine have to offer?” Spitelout asked rather contemptuously.

“How about video footage during the time of the crime and Hiccup’s location?” Astrid sounded rather smug as two holographic screens popped up in front of both Stoick and Spitelout. The screen was split into two sections that showed Hiccup working on one side while the area of the crime in question was shown on the other side.

“Those are… Those are…..” Spitelout sputtered as he watched the footage. “Those are our three witnesses!”

“It may not be common knowledge as of yet but this facility employs state of the art surveillance.” Astrid explained as the footage showed three teenage boys, slightly younger than Hiccup’s age, go in and out of the storage unit. Another camera then panned to the inside and displayed their actions. “As you can see, your three ‘witnesses’ are the actual criminals. They just needed a convenient scapegoat.”

“Astrid, thank you,” Hiccup said as Bucket and Spitelout let him go. Spitelout was still gaping at the footage however, and Hiccup guessed he hadn’t known about the surveillance.

“Spitelout don’t just stand there. Get those boys in here!” Stoick ordered.

Spitelout grumbled but he and Bucket did mutter an “I’m sorry Hiccup” before leaving. Hiccup gave a small nod and then turned to his father. He blinked at Stoick, who just blinked back.

“That will be all, return to your post, Hiccup,” Stoick said as he then turned back to his work.

“That will be all?! That will be all?!” Hiccup suddenly shouted startling everyone in the room. “That’s it?! How about an apology, Dad!”

“Hiccup… I.. Uhm.. what?” Stoick said as he turned back to face his son.

“An apology,” Hiccup prodded. “You know… like the one even Uncle Spitelout said to me when they found out the truth?” Hiccup dryly stated.

“Hiccup, we will talk about this later,” Stoick responded.

“No… NO! We will talk about this now!” Hiccup shouted causing Stoick’s red bushy eyebrows to shoot up. “All I want is an apology. You accused me and I was innocent. Uncle Spitelout doesn’t like me but even he said sorry! WHY CAN’T you?!” Hiccup’s previous conversation with Astrid and all the stress from all those years of being put down finally surfaced. Hiccup was breathing hard as he stared his father down. There was a rant on the tip of his tongue that was just itching to be let loose. “Do you hate me so much that you can’t even apologize when I’m innocent?” Something stuck in Hiccup’s throat as he looked at his father. “I know I’m probably not the son you wanted! I know that you probably don’t even care about me! THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS APOLOGIZE!” Hiccup’s green eyes narrowed and blazed with silent fury.

“Hiccup..” Stoick started but Hiccup cut him off as everything bubbled to the surface. “No, Dad. No. You don’t get to talk to me now. You don’t get to make decisions!” Hiccup uttered. “You’ve been making them for me all my life and it stops now!”

Stoick wisely clamped his mouth shut as Hiccup heaved while wagging a finger at his father. “You’ve ignored me! You’ve belittled me! It all stops now! You are supposed to be my Dad! But you aren’t! You’re Chief first and I’m just a nuisance! Well no more!” Hiccup grit his teeth as a stream of tears rolled down his cheeks. He probably wasn’t even aware of it. “You only treat me like I’m extra baggage! And I don’t know what I actually did wrong apart from being born-and that wasn’t my fault. I wish Mom was alive as well because I am sure she would have cared about me. But she isn’t...and I know you never will. Not…. Not now. Well then so be it! I Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd disown myself from the Haddock family and the Berk tribe!”

Gasps could be heard from all over the room and Stoick looked pale at Hiccup’s words. “Hiccup please,....”

“No, Dad. This is it,” Hiccup stated. “You obviously never cared so I’m giving you what you wanted. You no longer have a son that you see as a disgrace.”

“You… you can’t leave!” Stoick shouted.

“Who says I’m leaving.” Hiccup shot back. “I discovered this place. I have every right to be here. I just won’t answer to you anymore!”

“Hiccup….”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Hiccup said. “That is if you ever did. I will find my own way through this world.” Hiccup steeled his resolve. It was painful watching his Dad sputter and stare wide-eyed at him, but this was a long time coming. Without another word Hiccup left the Command center and a speechless Stoick behind. He quickly made his way back to his room, grabbed his duffle bag, that he still had to unpack, and walked towards the Engineering section in Area B. Hiccup let out a long breath he was holding and knocked on a door.

“Hiccup?” Gobber asked as he was suddenly enveloped in a hug by the auburn once the doors opened.

“Gobber…… can we talk?” Hiccup mumbled as his face was still muffled against his Godfather.

 

**AN: Next update either Wednesday or Friday (I have a lot of work to do inbetween)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

Hiccup lay on the makeshift cot in Gobber’s office. His crying spell had ended a while ago and he was just staring blankly at the ceiling. Gobber who had hugged him and listened to the story stood awkwardly nearby. “Uhm… Hiccup… are ya gonna be alright?” Gobber asked.

“Yeah…. Yes…. I think I am,” Hiccup mumbled. “I just… need time I guess.”

“Ya sure lad?” Gobber asked.

Hiccup nodded before saying “You know…. I guess this outburst was a long time coming.” He mumbled “I guess I was too scared to speak my mind during our travels. Just think.. If I disowned myself there I’d be walking the desert alone or probably lie dead under the sand.”

“I’m sure that’s not……” Gobber tried to reassure but Hiccup cut him off with the sentence “Gobber do you really think dad would have spared any supplies to the likes of me? He’d probably be happy he wouldn’t have to deal with such a burden anymore.”

“Hiccup you aren’t a burden!” Gobber said with resolution. “Now you listen here lad! Forget what ya dad had said and done and just live the life you want!” Hiccup turned and saw his uncle clenching his fist.

“Gobber you alright?” Hiccup asked. He had never seen the blond man angry before.

“I’m alright Hiccup, you just rest. I need to get some air lad.”

Hiccup nodded as he watched Gobber leave the office. When the door closed Hiccup looked up at the ceiling “Hey Astrid, do you think we could just…… talk?”

Meanwhile, Gobber had left his workspace and marched up to the Command center. He made it there relatively fast, even on his prosthetic leg, and didn’t bother to knock on the door. Gobber simply marched into the room and shouted “Stoick you fat idiot! Look what ya done now!” The room turned quiet as the others who were also working behind the monitors turned to stare at Gobber. Several were whispering others just stared incredulously at the man.

Stoick however wasn’t really responding and just sat there at his desk with his head down and his hands in his hair. Gobber looked at the Berkians watching them before shouting “Out with all of ya! The Chief and I have a private matter to discuss!” The people in the room didn’t need to be told twice. They all nearly ran for the exit as the atmosphere inside the Command center had become heavy. When the last one had left and the doors were firmly shut behind the two men Gobber let out a sigh. “You sure mucked it up big time Stoick.”

“I know Gobber….. I know……” Stoick mumbled as he finally looked up. “Could you….. Could you talk to him for me?”

“I could,” Gobber said and crossed his arms. “But I’m not gonna.”

“Gobber……”

“Stoick you’re my friend but I’m not going to fix this situation for you.” Gobber told him with resolution. “You’ve been a right bastard to Hiccup and I love the lad like my own. The only reason I haven’t said much was because he begged me not to start up something.”

“Gobber…. I’m sorry,” Stoick muttered as he sank back in his chair. Stoick looked much older and weary than before.

“It isn’t me ya should be apologizing too!” Gobber growled. “Tell me Stoick, does Hiccup remind you so much of Valka that you had to alienate him just to not let your heart be broken again! After Valka died you just ended up shutting yourself off so much that you hurt your son!”

“Gobber I don’t know what to do!” Stoick shouted. “Hiccup is… Hiccup is…”

“A smart lad!” Gobber finished for him. “One that you raised but didn’t love! Honestly I wanna punch you in the face Stoick. You’re the reason for this entire blunder. Just what where ya thinking all these years!”

“I….. I…. don’t know,” Stoick finally admitted. “Thor, Gobber. I got no clue anymore. Hiccup…. This…. It wasn’t supposed to end like this!”

“Well it has, what ya gonna do about it?!” Gobber stated. “You and your indifference caused the lad to disown himself. You and your damn stubborn pride won’t make it right!”

“Gobber I just wanted the boy to be safe!”

“Stoick you damned idiot!” Gobber shouted. “You ignoring him, teaching him nothing and trying to keep him down isn’t going to keep him safe! Him knowing what is out there is! All you’re doing is putting fuel on fire!”

“What was I supposed to do Gobber….. When Hiccup was born and I lost Valka… I knew nothing of parenting.”

“It seems like you still don’t Stoick,” Gobber rolled his eyes. “Valka would have beaten you with that stick of hers if she was still here!”

“He just reminds me sooo much of her,” The Chief said. “Same damned curiosity. I just don’t want to see him get hurt.”

“Well he already is hurt and it was all your fault.” Gobber stated as he looked at his childhood friend.

“What do you suggest I do Gobber?”

“What do you want to do?” Gobber asked. “You have two options…. You can either let Hiccup be and live the life he has. The same life he’d had since you weren’t around.” Stoick flinched as if stung. “Or ya can actually talk to the boy.” Gobber came closer and put his hand on the desk Stoick was using.

“I…. I… want Hiccup back,” Stoick decided after remaining quiet for nearly a minute. Thoughts were going through his head at rapid speed and he just realized how much of a douchebag he had been. “I want him back…. But….”

“No buts Stoick.” Gobber said as he stared down at the red-head. “Ya go talk to him after both of ya cool down. Thor knows the kind of temper and stubbornness both ya have.” Stoick nodded wordlessly and then Gobber added “Oh and Stoick…..” This caused the Chief to look up only to be met with a fist to the nose. Stoick fell backwards from his chair with a heavy thud. “Don’t ya ever make mah Godson cry again!” Gobber shouted before walking stiffly out of the office while leaving the other man to his thoughts.

Meanwhile, back in Gobber’s office-temporary-bedroom, Hiccup was still laying there after he wiped his tears away. He was quietly conversing with Astrid about various things just to keep his mind off of recent events.

“And now I need to find a new place to live…..” Hiccup trailed off as the doors opened again to reveal that Gobber had returned. Hiccup immediately noted the redness of his knuckles and asked “Gobber what happened?”

“Nothing lad….” Gobber dismissed as he stealthily noted where Hiccup’s gaze had gone. “I just went to deal with something. Now what is it I’m hearing bout ya moving out?”

“I think I need my own place to stay,” Hiccup mumbled. “I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Nonsense Hiccup!” Gobber stated. “Ya no inconvenience lad.”

“I still think I should at least live on my own.” Hiccup mumbled. “That’s why I asked Astrid if there was a free room available.”

“Astrid huh,” Gobber smirked. “So ya named her Astrid….”

“Gobber!” Hiccup shouted “Just what are you insinuating?!”

“Oooh nothing lad,” Gobber laughed. “Wasn’t there some old saying that went never get between an Engineer and his machine?”

“GOBBER!”

“Just teasing!” Gobber laughed as he took in Hiccup’s red face. It was more of a blushing face now then tears.

“I am afraid I am not familiar with that term,” Astrid spoke up.

“And Gobber will not be explaining!” Hiccup stated.

Astrid for her part was observing the situation and expressed confusion when Gobber started laughing uncontrollably while Hiccup buried his head in a cushion.

“Also lad, if ya wanna talk to the lady in private…..” Here Gobber nudged Hiccup with his elbow “Ya might wanna think of getting some sort of radio. Everyone can hear ya like this.”

“I… uhm…. Guess that’s true.” Hiccup thought for a moment before asking “Astrid what do you think?”

“I would also like to converse with you more privately,” The A.I. admitted. “There are some questions that I wish to ask that could be taken wrongly in mixed company.”

“Oh…. uhm…. I see,” Hiccup said but he really didn’t. Just what was Astrid so curious about that it required discretion?

“Sooooo how should we do that?” Hiccup then asked.

“I may have an idea on that.” Astrid stated and Hiccup was sure the A.I. was sporting either a smirk, a smug look or a combination of both. ‘Just what secrets and means did Astrid have to accomplish this’ Hiccup thought.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

“I may have an idea on that.” Astrid had stated and just as Hiccup’s mind was whirling with thoughts on what those questions could be when suddenly a loud roar filled the room.

“My sensors have detected the presence of a wild beast.” Astrid announced as she started scanning the office which caused Gobber to laugh more and Hiccup to turn a deeper shade of red.

“HAHAHA…. That’s….. AHAHHA….. Hiccup’s stomach!” Gobber weazed out as Hiccup covered his face with his hands.

“Gobber please shut up!” Hiccup whined embarrassingly just as his stomach growled again.

“Acknowledged,” Astrid stated. “The sound has been categorized as a lanky teenage stomach growl.”

“Oh Thor….. I’m never going to live this down am I?” Hiccup sighed.

“Before we proceed with solving the one-on-one communications problem let us first proceed to the Mess Hall.” Astrid suggested. “It is imperative that you get some nourishment.”

“Well Hiccup, you better listen to your wife,” Gobber joked as he clapped his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder. Hiccup’s blush deepened even more and he quickly rushed out of the office.

“Oh that lad,” Gobber laughed as he watched Hiccup walk swiftly down the corridor.

Hiccup was indeed walking both swiftly and stiffly towards the Mess Hall. The food break would have been over by now so the cafeteria would be largely empty. He just hoped that he would still find something to eat. When he reached his destination and the double doors opened for him he saw that the room was mostly empty. Only the Berkians on the cleanup crew were still there. “I don’t think there is any more food.” Hiccup said aloud.

“There is always food. Proceed to the kitchen area,” The A.I. directed him. Hiccup looked around and then spotted a door to the side. When he opened it he was in a very large kitchen that could accommodate at least twenty chefs. “Woah” Hiccup muttered as he stepped further into the room. The Berkians on duty only gave him merely a sideways glance as he approached one of the freezers. There was likely some leftovers from lunch in there.

“And just what do you think you are doing?” A voice filled with contempt interrupted his train of thought. Hiccup looked to the right to see Mildew, who was holding a clipboard, approaching.

“Getting some food?” Hiccup said more as a question as he was staring at the grumpy old man.

“Oh no no no. You aren’t getting anything!” Mildew crossed his arms. “Don’t think I haven’t heard of you disowning yourself from your family _and the Berkians_.”

Hiccup raised a brow as he looked at Mildew before asking “So?”

“So…….” Mildew smirked and gestured towards the freezer and then the surroundings. “These supplies are reserved for Berkians. Since you aren’t one anymore then you cannot get any Sup-AAAAAHHH!” Mildew suddenly shouted as he fell to the floor. Hiccup looked up and noticed that some sort of device had appeared above them on the ceiling.

“Astrid what did you do?” Hiccup asked as he looked at Mildew who was now laying face first on the floor in front of him.

“Just a simple tase,” Astrid told him casually. “If I had nerves the man would be getting on them.”

“You….. you can’t!” Mildew managed to open his eyes and move his fingers somewhat. “The Laws of Robotics….”

Astrid, feeling very sassy right now, stated “The Laws of Robotics state that 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.” Astrid told the man smugly, or Hiccup imagined it was a smug expression the A.I. was sporting. “A robot is defined by a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically. Seeing as I am a self-aware Artificial Intelligence and do not have the means to replicate human movement then these rules are null and void.”

Mildew’s eyes widened as he got the implication. Hiccup got it too. Astrid could do whatever she wanted. “These provisions have been supplied by Arcadia to sustain all individuals within this facility. Berkians or not. Any more resistance will result in another tasing.”

The threat was apparent and Mildew backed down once he got some feeling back in his limbs. The old man shot a nasty glare at Hiccup as he left though.

“You know, you didn’t have to do that.” Hiccup stated. “Are you really exempt from the laws of Robotics?”

“No,” Astrid told him lightly. “It was merely a bluff.”

“Wait, then the tasing……”

“I simply deployed countermeasures to ensure that a situation did not escalate. No humans were injured. Besides, I like you Hiccup. You intrigue me.” Astrid stated. “I believe this is what is called ‘Favoring someone’? A rather new experience if I do say so myself.” Astrid stated as Hiccup opened the fridge. “The inclusion of new humans has brought surprising results.” She said while sounding deep in thought as Hiccup grabbed a container of potato salad. He also grabbed some fruit and put it on a plate before digging in right there in the kitchen. His appetite wasn’t that big despite the sound his stomach made. Hiccup did let out a happy sigh as he ate the papaya he had found. It had been years since he’d tasted actual fruit.

“Is it to your liking?” Astrid asked genuinely curious.

“It’s delicious!” Hiccup exclaimed. “How do you even grow these?”

“The Biodome is equipped with sensors and machinery to simulate any climate imaginable. This particular fruit has been cultivated in our tropical climate habitat.”

“That sounds amazing!” Hiccup exclaimed. “So you can grow anything?”

“Not exactly,” Astrid explained. “Not all plants we have cultivated came to fruition. Some plants are more adaptable than others. Due to the current climate on this planet and the toxins in the water that runs through the dome several crops beforehand have perished.” With saying this Astrid opened up a holographic screen that showed video and several graphs. “Nanobots are mixed into the water as it comes into the dome. These nanobots begin the primary stage of purification. However, as previously stated, not all plant life can adapt at the same rate. The cacao plant for instance could not grow properly due to the toxins still left in the water and withered. The same happened to the strawberry fields. Those did not even develop sprouts.”

“So you guys can’t make strawberries and chocolate?” Hiccup asked. “I would have loved to taste chocolate.” Hiccup remembered the stories the old people told them about some of the foods from the modern civilisation. Chocolate being one of them. It was supposed to be either sweet or bitter and melted on your tongue. Hiccup guessed not even his dad had tasted it because around that time it was long gone. When the desertification started to increase exponentially the tropical rainforest was dying. The leaves of massive 400 to 500 year old trees were wilting, the great Amazon river was drying up slowly, and the creatures that had called that area their home for so long either perished with it or tried to flee. Since many of the cacao exporting countries where smack dab in the middle of all of this, their crops were lost along with the forest. Chocolate became a rare commodity and before the end of the 24th century it was all gone.

“You know Astrid,” Hiccup said as he speared a fork in a piece of papaya. “Sometimes I think we are the makers of our own destruction.”

“Well you are not wrong on that statement,” Astrid said.

“You’re awfully blunt about it.”

“Forgive me but, historical records do show that this situation could have been avoided.” Astrid told Hiccup. “Humans just simply chose to ignore this for sake of economic improvement. There were methods developed to stop pollution but they were discarded simply because they would have cost too costly to employ. Does the human race weigh its existence on materialistic gain rather than the continuation of their ecosystem?”

“That seemed to be the consensus in the past.” Hiccup told her. “I’m not going to lie. Our ancestors left us in a deep dark hole that we probably won’t be able to crawl out of.”

“At least the scientist here are trying to do something about it.” Hiccup stated.

“Yes….” Astrid answered but her response was less than optimistic. At least to Hiccup’s ears. “Shall we continue? We need to head to Area B to solve our little problem.”

Hiccup nodded but he idly wondered why she changed the subject so quickly.

 

**AN: next update will be on Wednesday.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13**

Hiccup left the Mess hall and followed Astrid’s instructions on how to get to area B. Since this part mostly consisted of laboratories and testing rooms not many Berkians had ventured in here. The area seemed a lot better maintained than the other parts of the facility and Hiccup supposed that was the scientists’ doing. After all they wouldn’t want to conduct their experiments in a subpar environment. Theoretically, Gobber’s area should also be part of the B area but it was in the lower levels and connected to other sections via service corridors. The hallways there weren’t as well lit as here.

“Proceed left at the next junction and then three doors down to the Nanotech labs.” Astrid relayed the instructions as Hiccup looked around curiously. When he got to the junction Hiccup saw a sign near one of the doors that looked like a DNA helix. “Astrid what is that?”

“That is the Genetics laboratory,” Astrid explained. “It is where research is being conducted to clone animals for the Biodome.”

“Cloning animals? Is that even possible?” Hiccup asked. He wasn’t too familiar with the process and was now wondering about the parrots he had seen flying overhead when they had first arrived.

“It is boy! The habitat wouldn’t function without them.” A voice startled Hiccup and he turned to look to his right. Dr. Bludvist had just come out of one of the adjoining rooms and was staring him down. The gaze was scrutinizing and the burly man crossed his arms before asking “What are you doing here?”

“Astrid…. Uhm…… was giving me a tour!” Hiccup uttered quickly and it made some sense. “Yeah, she was giving me a tour.” He stated. He didn’t know what it was but this man made him a bit nervous.

Drago huffed before muttering “Well get in there. I will tolerate you looking in my lab for a bit.” as he pointed towards the Genetics lab.

“Excuse me, what?” Hiccup’s brows shot up.

“If you’re on a tour then you were going to go into the labs right?”

“Eh……. yeah……” Hiccup said while his internal dialog went something along the lines of “Crap crap crap.” as he was just two doors away from his destination. Reluctantly, though he did not show it, Hiccup proceeded into the lab. While the corridors were white, the inside of this lab had darker paneling. Metallic grey walls and several workstations were present. There was even a closed-off section with an observation window. Hiccup peered through it to see rows of tubes containing some type of green fluid.

“That’s the nursery,” Drago said, startling Hiccup once again. He hadn’t expected the man to actually talk more to him. Hiccup turned around to see him don a white lab coat and grab a tablet.

“Nursery?” Hiccup asked as his curiosity got peeked. “You mean that’s where you grow clones in?”

“Yes, the fluid acts as a substitute for a womb.” Drago hummed not looking up from his work.

“What type of animals are you cloning?”

“For now, mainly insects, birds and small mammals and several fish species.” Drago mumbled. “The fluid speeds up the creation process from months to a few weeks and now that you’ve seen the lab out you go.”

“Doesn’t cloning entire animal populations each time become tiring?” Hiccup cocked his head to the side. Drago scoffed and gave Hiccup a look.

“It’s not needed. The animal populations are unaffected by the Midas drug,” Drago then muttered as he looked at Hiccup and then the automatic door. Hiccup was positive the man wasn’t about to answer more questions and looked ready to throw him out. He himself hurried to the door but stopped when a thought hit him.

“Can you clone a human?” Hiccup asked and he thought he saw the man’s eyes widen for a moment.

“You ask a lot of questions boy.”

“I’m naturally curious,” Hiccup said.

“And curiosity killed the cat. Now get. You have more to see I believe.” Drago stated.

“Right…. Uh,.... I’ll just go.” Hiccup mumbled and was out the door in a matter of seconds. Back in the corridor Hiccup let out a breath. “That was nerve-wracking. I thought he was going to snap me in half when I asked that question.”

“Dr. Bludvist can be a bit prickly about that subject.” Astrid told him as Hiccup hurried to the third door. It wouldn’t do if someone stopped him now.

“Human cloning? Why?”

“He has been trying to break the secret to human cloning for nearly two decades now.” Astrid stated as Hiccup entered another lab. The lab was dark at first but the lights turned on automatically.

“What is this place?” he asked as he looked at all the machinery that came to life.

“The Nanobiotechnology lab.” Astrid explained. “Hiccup please put your hand on the scanner on the left workstation. Hiccup turned his head to the left and saw a glowing square with an indent for a hand light up. He walked to the workstation and carefully placed his hand in it.

“What are you doing?” Hiccup asked but then hissed when something pricked him. He took his hand off and saw that there was a small pinprick where a drop of blood was oozing out of.

“I am calibrating the device to your DNA.” Astrid stated as machines went to work. “Estimated time of completion: 20 minutes.”

“Astrid what do you mean by calibrating it?” Hiccup asked as he found a desk chair. “What exactly are you making?”

“It is something of my own design.” Astrid stated. “An advanced version of the Bluetooth headset.”

“Bluetooth?” Hiccup asked with a frown. “What is Bluetooth?”

A small holographic screen popped up in front of him. “Bluetooth, also known as short-link radio technology was conceived in the late 20th century. Historical records show that it gained popularity and then later dwindled as more advanced methods of data transfer became available. As for calibrating your DNA to the device, think of it as a lock. No one but you can use it.”

“Wow,” Hiccup was impressed but then he thought of something “Wait, you can use faster methods of data transfer. So why Bluetooth?”

“There is a chance that a third party could discover the more advanced methods and listen in to our conversations.” Astrid stated. “I rather they did not find out.”

“Uhm…… Okay?” Hiccup said. He wasn’t yet sure of what to make of it but he didn’t think it was anything bad. “So… uhm, can you tell me more about the whole cloning thing and the Biodome?”

More screens popped up but these held words that Hiccup didn’t understand very well. They looked to be technical manuals as well as results of various studies. “Arcadia uses a process called Reproductive cloning. This means that we can produce copies of whole animals. In the early stages the process took months to complete and the project was nearly scrapped until Dr. Johann Trader engineered the Bioplasma. This cut the cloning time to a great degree. However there was a problem. The fluid could not be used to clone human beings.”

“Why not? Is it something in our DNA?” Hiccup questioned  
“No. Theoretically the process should be able to produce a human clone.” Astrid stated. “However, those affected by the Midas drug cannot be cloned.”

“So that’s what Dr. Bludvist is so prickly about?”

“Yes, the cloning process recognizes the Midas drug as a foreign agent and produces an error. Up till now there has been no successful human clone.”

“But the animals are alright?” Hiccup asked as he remembered the man telling him that they were unaffected.

“According to research records the Midas drug doesn’t affect animals. It was engineered to be selective. The animal populations can reproduce normally after the cloning process. Populations are still monitored but so far it has been a success. Several insect and bird species have already formed symbiotic relationships with the plantlife.” As Astrid stated this she observed Hiccup who was deep in thought.

“Is there something on your mind?”

“I was just wondering about that Midas drug.”

“I have no records of the drug’s development. I would be of little help in that area.” Astrid stated.

“I was just wondering, if your nanomachines could remove the drug from human bodies.” Hiccup said.

“I am sorry Hiccup, but that is impossible.” Astrid stated. “Normally nanomachines could work inside a human’s body to stop diseases and fix injuries. However, the Midas drug was made to be virtually undetectable. Without an original base sample to go off on the nanomachines wouldn’t know what to look for. And no original samples exist anymore.”

“Oh,” Hiccup mumbled a bit sadly.

“The device is finished,” Astrid announced a few minutes later causing Hiccup to perk up. She directed him to one of the workstations where the mechanical arms had been busy. There on the table lay a device that was smaller than Hiccup’s hand. He looked at it curiously. It seemed to be able to go around the back of his ear. There was a bud attached to the device and Hiccup placed that in his ear. His auburn hair completely covered the device.

“Can you hear me?” Astrid’s voice came through the bud. Hiccup jumped at first because it felt so close.

“Y...Yeah,” he said. Honestly it felt like she was standing right next to him and whispering in his ear. “This is awesome! You’re amazing Astrid.”

“Why thank you Hiccup.” Astrid chirped. “You’re making me blush.”

“I wish I could see that.” Hiccup laughed as he exited the lab.

“It is not out of the question,” Astrid mumbled.

 

 **AN: So sorry for the delay. I went to an all you can eat buffet. Came home stuffed and then fell asleep. (Woke up at 11 PM and saw that I had forgotten to finish this chap)**  
**Next update will be on Saturday.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 14**

Hiccup and Astrid had been chatting about different things for the rest of the day. He returned to Gobber’s place that night and though Gobber had offered him a place to stay he still felt that he needed to find his own room. Sooner or later he might end up inconveniencing his Godfather.

“So Astrid, what do you do at night?” Hiccup asked as he lay on the makeshift bed.

“Oh, just _lady stuff?_ Are you curious?” Astrid said in a lecherous voice which caused Hiccup to blush. Even in the dark Astrid’s sensors picked up Hiccup’s blush. “I’m joking, I’m joking!” She said with mirth. “I’m just looking after the facility as I always do.”

“Doesn’t it get boring?” Hiccup asked. “Doing the same thing over and over?”

“Of course it does. As an A.I. I do feel a sense of boredom. But I do have a hobby.” Astrid stated and then asked “Do you want to see something fun?”

“Uhm…. yeah, sure,” Hiccup said as he blinked up at the dark ceiling.

“Then please head to the Biodome,” Astrid seemed rather cheerful and Hiccup supposed it was because she wanted to share her hobby. He got up from the cot and made his way to the door, careful not to disturb Gobber. He didn’t actually have to worry about Gobber waking since his Godfather was snoring without a care in the world while hugging one of his wrenches like it was a teddy bear.

Hiccup slipped out of the room and into the now empty corridor. Luckily Gobber’s office wasn’t so far from the elevators. He made his way up to the Biodome without a problem.

At night the Biodome was dark and the ceiling panels above the dome simulated the night’s sky. As Hiccup stepped out of the elevator he had a feeling of suddenly being in a forest. “Where to now Astrid?”

“Just find a nice place to sit down Hiccup. The show will begin momentarily.” Astrid chirped. The A.I. was unusually excited at this time of night and Hiccup wondered what she was going to do. He found a patch of grass next to a boulder to sit on and as he was leaning against said bolder the ceiling started to change. The holographic night sky flickered for a moment before an entirely new picture arose. “Simulation 67 active” Hiccup heard Astrid announce as he looked up at the changed night sky. “This was the night sky above St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1741” Astrid stated as many streaks of light started to fly past. “What you are seeing now is a simulation of the first observed Andromedids meteor shower.”

“Woah,” Hiccup uttered as he watched the simulated night’s sky. “You made this?”

“Yes, when I get bored I like to dig into the historical records and make simulations. Preferably of celestial events.” Astrid answered.

“I’ve never seen a shower this bright before,” Hiccup mumbled. “Usually it’s just one or two shooting stars an hour.”

“Historical records show that the Andromedids meteor shower produced several thousand meteors per hour. However not much of this phenomenon was seen after the 19th century due to the comet that produced them breaking up.”

“That’s kinda sad,” Hiccup said.

“How do you figure?” Astrid asked as the simulation was still ongoing.

“I mean, generations of people probably never saw such a sight.”

“That is true but there were other meteor showers during all those years,” Astrid told him. “The Geminids and the Perseids were some of the brightest.”

“I’ve just never seen a shower like this before.”

“I have no access to space observation data from the 23rd century until now but there is a theory for why meteor showers could dwindle.” Astrid spoke casually as Hiccup listened. “Without satellite data this is only speculation however but the comets causing these meteor showers may have broken up already, or their path might have deviated in the last few centuries.”

“I see,” Hiccup said as he stifled a yawn. “Thank you for sharing this with me Astrid.”

“You’re welcome Hiccup. I am actually glad to share it with someone.” Astrid stated. “None of the scientists paid much attention to it and when they did it was to ask why I deviated computational resources to creating ‘useless’ simulations.”

“Isn’t the whole purpose of this facility to further Artificial Intelligence?” Hiccup asked. “Them ignoring the hobbies you get interested in as you develop seems counterproductive. The whole point of A.I.’s is to mimic human consciousness.”

“I have a theory of what Drs. Hofferson and Bludvist want to see from the A.I. development and I strive to meet that. I just simply keep my hobbies a secret now.” Astrid explained.

“Well I would love to see more of your simulations,” Hiccup told her. “They seem amazing.”

“Well you certainly are a sweet talker Hiccup,” Astrid laughed. “And yes I do wish to share some more simulations with you. You had previously expressed the comment about being able to see me.”

“Uhm…. yes?” Hiccup mumbled not sure where this was going.

“I said it previously. That option is not out of the question. It would take me three days to recalibrate the headset. But you must keep it on your person at all times during those three days so that the nanobots can gather data.”

“I’ll…… I’ll keep it on!” Hiccup promised enthusiastically. The possibility of seeing his new friend was making him giddy. He stifled another yawn and supposed that is was time to head back to bed.

The following day, after Hiccup finished helping Gobber with some of his work he made his way towards the Mess hall. It was nearly lunchtime and the place looked crowded. Hiccup looked around and spotted the large stack of trays. He was about to grab a tray when the twins looped their arms around him. “Hiccup mah man!” Tuffnut greeted.

“Hiccup!” Ruffnut said a little more controlled. She shot her brother a look as they grabbed trays as well.

“Hi guys, uhm….. What’s up?” Hiccup asked a bit perplexed.

“Dude, that was crazy?” Tuffnut asked as they joined the food line.

“That?”

“You disowning yourself!” Tuffnut exclaimed. “The news spread like wildfire a few hours after.”

“Well… uhm….. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing.” Hiccup mumbled.

“Well, Gobber sure gave your dad a mighty hefty shiner after.” Ruffnut said.

“Wait what?!” Hiccup now exclaimed.

“You didn’t know?” Ruffnut asked. “The Chief is sporting a black eye right now.”

“Oh…. uhm…..” Hiccup didn’t know what to say. He was surprised and touched at the same time. He was also worrying if Gobber and Stoick’s relationship was strained now.

“You guys know an awful lot of gossip.” Hiccup mumbled as they grabbed their food.

“Information is your friend.” Ruffnut stated proudly. “For instance did you know that Ack is seeing two ladies at a time?”

Hiccup coughed at the news. “And did you know said ladies are actually in a relationship with each other as well?”

“Wait… WHAT!”

“Yeah, the ladies found out and got to know each other. Things progressed from there.” Ruffnut shrugged. Hiccup raised a brow as they exited the lunch line and the twins directed him to a table near the wall. There Snotlout and Fishlegs were already seated. Snotlout was busy poking some purple looking fruit.

“What is this?” Snotlout asked as he popped one in his mouth.

“Those would be grapes,” Astrid answered startling Snotlout. Snotlout nearly choked from the sudden answer as Fishlegs patted him on the back.

“So Hiccup, you need a place to stay?” Fishlegs asked.

“You heard the news too?” Hiccup sighed.

“Who hasn’t?” Was all Fishlegs responded with.

“I thought………” Hiccup waved a hand in the air “that the Berkians would be more hostile since the whole disownment. And yes. I can’t just keep staying with Gobber.”

“I doubt there would be any open hostility so long as your actions don’t endanger them,” Fishlegs surmised. “Also I was assigned a set of rooms but it’s too big for me. You can have half if you want.”

“Oh…. wow… Thanks Fish! I would love to take you up on your offer.” Hiccup said as his eyes widened. He knew Fishlegs was a kind man and he somewhat retreated into himself after his family was killed by raiders. To offer to share rooms with Hiccup was quite something.

Lunch progressed quietly from there on. Or as quietly as things could get with Berkians. Hiccup did notice that Ruffnut what trying to gain Snotlout’s attention more and more. He should have known he wasn’t the only one to notice because Astrid’s voice chirped into his ear with the question “Hiccup could you teach me about human mating rituals?”

To say that Hiccup was the one choking at that moment would be an understatement.

 

 **AN: (Flops on readers in exhaustion) Sorry for the late update. My computer decided that it was a good time to update my Windows and then it decided to malfunction. I spent most of yesterday trying to get it back online. (Glares at laptop giving everyone an innocent look)**  
**Next chapter update shall be Wednesday**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 15**

Tuffnut patted Hiccup on the back quickly while Fishlegs grabbed some water. Astrid’s question had not only startled him but had him choking somewhat. “There there,” Tuffnut said in a mother hen voice as he rubbed Hiccup’s back.

“Why did you choke Hiccup?” Fishlegs asked while looking a bit worried. From the headset Hiccup heard Astrid say “You can tell them if you trust them. I wouldn’t mind.”

“Guys……… can you keep a secret?” Hiccup asked as he looked at the people sitting at the table. “And I mean…. A big secret?”

“I have no one to tell,” Fishlegs said while the twins made a hand motion and said in unison “Cross my heart and pray to Loki.” All eyes fell on Snotlout who then looked at the other teens in contemplation. Finally he said “I’m not gonna tell my dad or anyone else, crap! They can eat my shorts!”

That admission from Snotlout got a nod from Hiccup while Ruffnut rolled her eyes and muttered “No one even wants to see your shorts!”

Hiccup revealed the headset by swiping back some of his auburn hair before the ‘shorts’ argument could escalate. “What is that?” Fishlegs was the first to ask.

“It’s a device with which I can communicate with Astrid.” Hiccup explained.

“WHO IS ASTRID!” The twins suddenly asked as Ruffnut gripped his shoulders and shook. “Are you seeing someone? How can I not know the juicy details?!!! Spill boy! Spill!”

“Sis! You’re going to kill Hiccup!” Tuffnut said as he tried to pry her off.

“Let….. me…. Breathe!” Hiccup managed to wheeze out. Ruffnut finally let go and looked at Hiccup with a critical eye. “Astrid…. Is…… the…. A.I……” He managed to get out.

“The A.I. as in…. Arcadia’s A.I.?” Fishlegs asked while looking pensive. Hiccup nodded. “Why would she give you a headset?”

“So we could talk privately.” Was all Hiccup answered.

“And you nearly died by grape because……?” Snotlout now asked.

“She wanted to know about human mating rituals,” Hiccup finally got to the matter at hand and the gang was watching him all curiously.

“Oh, is that all?” Tuffnut shrugged.

“It caught me by surprise alright!” Hiccup exclaimed. “It’s not as if I picked up a girl before!”

“Well then you’ve certainly come to the master.” Snotlout boasted. “Lesson one of human mating rituals: Flirting,”

“Oh Thor,” Fishlegs mumbled while Snotlout was boasting.

“So let’s start with winking……” Snotlout smiled and looked at Hiccup.

“Winking?” Hiccup asked curiously.

“Yes, like this,” Snotlout said and demonstrated.

“Does your cousin have some dust in his eye?” Astrid asked as she observed. “I could recommend a good eye solution.” This caused Hiccup to guffaw and Snotlout to frown.

“Winking not working?” Snotlout asked. “Why not try serenading the lady?”

“Oh Thor!” Fishlegs groaned as Snotlout started to sing a made-up romantic ballad. A very badly made up romantic ballad.

“And now we know why those two sisters chased him through the settlement with pitchforks.” Tuffnut said. “Sis, you sure you wann-hfffff,” Ruffnut quickly clamped a hand over her brother’s mouth.

“Okay okay…. I’ll let you in on my secret! EYEBROW RAISING!” Snotlout exclaimed.

“Snot, that didn’t even work the last few times you tried it!” Fishlegs now exclaimed.

“Well then what do you suggest?!” Snotlout retorted.

“Eh…… How about some poetry?” Fishlegs suggested. “Or…. uhm… maybe a pickup line?”

“Really now?!” Snotlout asked. “Pickup lines won’t help! I’ve gotten a few black eyes from those!”

“Well maybe Astrid is different!” Fishlegs argued and then turned to Hiccup. “Hiccup why don’t you try it?!”

“Me?” Hiccup asked as he heard Astrid’s laughter in the headset. “I don’t know any.”

“Just think of a compliment that would get a computer’s attention,” Fishlegs mumbled. “How about, can I stick my flashdrive in your USB port?”

“OH MY THOR!” The group exclaimed as Fishlegs blushed.

“Wait, what’s a USB port?” Tuffnut asked as he looked quite confused.

Uhm…. eh…. I just heard Gobber say that a couple of times!” Was Fishleg’s only excuse.

“I…….. I…. know another one,” Fishlegs blushed scarlet as he stared at the group.

“Well?” Tuffnut asked while Hiccup mumbled “Oh boy,”

“N…..Need me to unzip your files?” Fishlegs squeaked out as Tuffnut clapped him on the shoulder.

“I don’t get it but oh well!” Tuffnut shrugged.

Astrid was actually laughing up a storm and explained to Hiccup what a Zipped file was before he blushed as well.

“Oh… Oh… I got one!” Snotlout enthusiastically said as he began to wiggle his eyebrows “I bet my hard drive is the biggest you’ve ever seen!”

“PLEASE STOP!” Hiccup shouted looking quite red-faced. Several people at tables near them gave the group weird looks before getting back to their food. “Can we please move along?”

“Fine….. Fine….” Snotlout rolled his eyes. Hiccup had a feeling that the shorter man was enjoying his discomfort way too much. “Lesson two of human mating rituals: Dating! I am very much the expert in this.”

“Oh please!” Ruffnut rolled her eyes. “You haven’t even been successful with flirting!”

“And have you ever dated someone?” Snotlout shot back. As Ruffnut was about to open her mouth he added “And clubbing a muscular man from an enemy raid over his head and trying to drag him away does not count!”

“He was easy on the eyes!” Ruffnut defended. “I likey!”

Ruffnut was pouting as Snotlout started to say “Any good start to a date is to present the lady with flowers.”

“Giving wilting plants shows affection?” Astrid curiously asked as she listened to Snotlout spout on about old fashioned courting. Something Hiccup wouldn’t have thought his cousin was considering.

“I don’t know. There aren’t many flowers in the wasteland.” Fishlegs interrupted. “I mean, you could always give her a cactus.”

“NO!” Snotlout exclaimed and shuddered. “NO CACTUS! NO CACTI! NO PRICKLY STUFF!”

“Fish don’t you remember?” Tuffnut said with a smirk. “When we rescued that Bog tribe girl. What was her name again…….”

“Camicazi?” Ruffnut supplied.

“Yes, yes her!” Tuffnut’s eyes lit up mischievously.

“Snotlout totally tried to flirt with her.” Tuffnut laughed as Fishlegs said “Ooooh right! I remember.”

“Wait who?” Hiccup asked as he hadn’t been on any scouting missions.

“You know the Bog Burglar tribe?” Ruffnut asked.

“Vaguely,” Hiccup answered. “They aren’t as well known as The Dragons or Outcasts.”

“Yeah, so we helped out this girl named Camicazi and she claimed to be some bigshot from the tribe.” Tuffnut explained. “Snotlout was totally head-over-heels!”

“I….I was not!” Snotlout tried to retort but the blush on his cheeks said all.

“Dude, you were waxing poems while on the ATV!” Tuffnut said.

“So how does a cactus come into this story?” Hiccup asked.

“Well….. Mr. moony over there thought he’d impress her. He ended up giving her a cactus and whispering something in her ear.”

“Everything was going well until the whispering in her ear part.” Fishlegs cringed as he said this. “She ended up shoving that cactus down his pants.”

“Oh Thor…… I think I remember that. Was it the time Snotlout was walking funny all day in the camp?” Hiccup asked as he could remember how grumpy Snot had been that particular day.

“Yup,” Tuffnut smirked while Snotlout let out a groan.

“Uhm…… Astrid, does that answer your question somewhat?” Hiccup asked.

“Somewhat…….” Astrid said before adding “Though……”

“What is it?” Hiccup then asked.

“Well, that was all theoretical right?” Astrid stated. “Wouldn’t a practical application be much more informative?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“Oh Hiccup,” Astrid mumbled. “I’m asking if you wanted to go on a date with me?”

 

**AN: (Author had a case uncontrollable laughter while writing this chapter) Next update will be Friday**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 16**

To say that Hiccup was nervous for the past three days was an understatement. He went about helping Gobber and some of the other Berkians with their tasks but one thought still kept nagging him. ‘My date with Astrid is tonight and I have no idea what to expect!’

Astrid had been pretty tight-lipped about how the date would go. She did promise that they would be meeting ‘in person’ for it and that he shouldn’t worry and let her plan this one, but Hiccup was worried. Even Fishlegs noticed it when he came back to their now shared rooms at night.

“Hiccup chill,” Fishlegs said as he was playing some type of game on a holographic screen. It looked like a worm or a snake that kept getting bigger.

“How can I chill?” Hiccup asked. “I’ve never been on a date before. Heck, what even applies as an ordinary date?” He then asked. “You can’t even take a girl for a ride anymore on an ATV without the scenario of being attacked by raiders.

“I think Astrid was right to plan this date. You are way too nervous.” Fishlegs said and then frowned as his snake bumped into its own body and the ‘Game Over’ sign flashed. “Hiccup, just relax,” Fishlegs, the ever calm one, said.

“Right….. Right…. Relax.” Hiccup mumbled. “I’m just going to go to my room.

“Have fun!” Fishlegs said as Hiccup made his way across the living room. The door to his room opened automatically and once it was closed behind him he asked “Can you at least give me a hint of what you’re planning?”

“You wanted to see me right?” Astrid spoke through the headset.

“YES! Of course!”Hiccup answered with a blush. “But how?”

“Why don’t you let me worry about the intricate details Hiccup.” Astrid chuckled. “All I need you to do is to lie on the bed and fall asleep.”

“Wait what?” Hiccup asked confused. Astrid chuckled and he supposed it was part of the surprise she had in store. He took a deep breath and went to the bed. No time like the present to go on a date with an A.I. he supposed. As he laid down and stared at the ceiling that was illuminated in artificial light he started to drift off. The events of the day were catching up to him and with one final yawn he started to drift off.

“Hiccup……”

“Hiccup…….. Wake up…..” A female voice pricked his ears as he was gently shaken awake. He opened his green eyes a fraction and he saw the blurry image of a woman standing over him. His eyes widened and he sat up rather suddenly, knocking his forehead against his by accident.

“Ouch!” they both said as Hiccup finally got a good look at her. She was a bit shorter than him, azure eyes, blonde hair done up in an intricate bun and for some reason she was wearing a lot of leather. And boy did he mean a lot. Hiccup’s eyes traveled downwards and he took in the very form-fitting and stylish leather jumpsuit. There was a zipper on the front and it was pulled down just enough to show off her neck and collarbones but not her…….. Bust. Hiccup blushed when he realized she was sitting on him, with her legs on either side of his hips.

“Uh….. uhm… eh….. Who…... who are you?” Hiccup managed to sputter as his face glowed at the compromising position. The woman stood up, her black heeled boots clicking slightly as she offered Hiccup a hand. Hiccup took it hesitantly and was pulled up with surprising strength.

“Take a guess Hiccup,” The woman smiled as she twirled. “How do you like my look?”

“A…..ASTRID!” Hiccup choked out as his eyes widened. “Who…. what ha… how!!!” Hiccup’s eyes then widened further when he realized that the entire area around him was pure white. “Where am I even?!”

“You’re in my loading program right now.” Astrid answered calmly as Hiccup looked around. “Well this is the loading program for the device before you can gain access to my terminal network.”

“I’m inside a computer?”

“Yes Hiccup,” Astrid smiled. “You look good in leather by the way.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened and he looked down. Sure enough he was wearing leather pants, a T-shirt and a black leather jacket. “These feel like actual clothes. How? And…...How am I seeing you?”

“I’ve recalibrated the device to access your subconscious.” Astrid explained. “Right now you are sleeping but also connected to my network. What you are seeing is the mental projection of yourself.”

“And….. And… that’s your mental projection?” Hiccup asked as Astrid put a hand on her leather-clad hip. “Wow… you look… you look amazing.”

Astrid’s cheeks tinged pink as she let out a little cough before saying “Why thank you Hiccup.”

“How did you chose this mental image?” Hiccup asked. “Sorry, if I’m prying a bit. I’m just curious.”

“You can ask.” Astrid told him. “It’s rather odd. Ever since I was made I’ve been partial to this image. It just feels…… right.” Astrid said. “But enough about that. Are you ready for the date?” She was quite excited as she grabbed Hiccup’s hand. Hiccup blushed and nearly stumbled over his steps as a wooden door suddenly appeared.

“Astrid what is this space exactly? Doors don’t just suddenly appear!” Hiccup asked.

“It’s the space where I can load anything needed for my simulations.” Astrid smiled. “Here, let me show you.” Astrid said and as she and Hiccup stood close together rows upon rows of plants appeared suddenly.

“OH MY THOR!” Hiccup gasped as he looked around at the different types of plants. Most he had never even seen in his life.

“Normally these would be my weapons racks but today I filled them with flowers!!”

“I can smell them! How? They aren’t supposed to be real.” Hiccup’s eyes widened.

“What is real Hiccup?” Astrid asked as she cocked her head to the left. “How do you define real? If it’s what you can hear, see, taste or smell, those are merely electrical impulses interpreted by your brain. The device you’re wearing has been recalibrated to interpret those signals that your subconscious experiences and relay them to your brain.”

“How is it even possible to sustain all of this?” Hiccup asked. “Surely that little device doesn’t have that much of a power supply.”

“It doesn’t need to.” Astrid stated. “The body is basically a liquid electrical circuit. You’ve been powering that device all on your own.”

Hiccup nodded as Astrid was more than happy to explain the process but then something dawned on him. “Did you say they used to be weapons racks!”

Hiccup gasped when he and Astrid finally managed to make it through the door. Gone was the white room and instead they were standing in a busy metropolis.

“Hiccup welcome to New York in the 21st century.” Astrid smiled. There were hundreds if not thousands of people milling about, more than Hiccup had ever seen gathered in one place. He stared open-mouthed at the scenery for a moment.

“This is New York?” Hiccup asked. “The first lost city?” He had only heard tales about this place.

“Well it was nicknamed the Big Apple. My historical data however has no clue what a city and a gigantic fruit have in common. But I assume you are referring to it being the first city to be swallowed up by the floods?” Hiccup nodded, still in complete awe.

“How about we turn back the clock a bit,” Astrid smiled as the simulation stopped for a second and flickered. It took Hiccup only one or two blinks before he was staring at the same city yet with a completely different vibe to it. Gone were the freakishly tall buildings and busy traffic. The skyline was looked completely different, with only a few buildings rising above all the other highrises, and instead there were very antiquated automobiles and buses driving about. Models he had never even seen before.

“This is New York, say around 1955,” Astrid told him. They too had suddenly changed clothes. Hiccup was now dressed in a brown three-piece suit with leather shoes whole Astrid wore a blue polka-dotted halter strap dress with matching heels. On her head was now also a blue beret. To say that Hiccup was speechless was an understatement.

“Now we can start our date for real!” Astrid enthusiastically said as she guided Hiccup somewhere. “Our first stop! THE BRONX ZOO! THEN THE APOLLO!”

 

**AN: Next update will be Monday! XD**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 17**

“Hiccup….. Hiccup…….” Hiccup groaned as he cracked open an eye. The blurry image of Fishlegs hovering above him had his eyes snapping open.

“AAAAAAHHHH!” Hiccup shouted as he sat up and scooted further back. “What the!!!”

“Sorry to wake you Hiccup but it’s morning already.” Fishlegs stated. “You’re supposed to help the Hoffersons today, right?”

“Shoot! Yeah!” Hiccup said as he hopped out of bed.

“Soooo……..” Fishlegs mumbled.

“So?”

“How did the date go?” He then asked. “You were making a kissy face in your sleep.”

“Oh My Thor!” Hiccup stopped searching for a shirt and looked at Fishlegs in a horrified manner. “I didn’t say anything…. Uhm…. embarrassing, right?”

“You were mumbling something about penguins and ostriches……. And something called the Apollo?” Fishlegs told him while blushing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to listen in but I was trying to wake you.”

“The date was incredible Fish,” Hiccup said. “Astrid made a simulation of the New York from centuries back and we went to this thing called a Zoo.”

“A zoo?” Fishlegs asked. “I heard that name somewhere before…..”

“It’s a place where humans kept all kinds of animals in the city.” Hiccup told him. “Honestly Fish, it felt pretty real.”

“How do penguins and ostriches fit in?” Fishlegs asked eagerly since he has never seen them.

“Well we fed some penguins and Astrid wanted to go ride an ostrich.” Hiccup explained. “I didn’t even think you could ride an ostrich.”

“How did that go?” Fishlegs asked.

“That bird accelerated from 0 to 90 in seconds,” Hiccup coughed as he remembered the sensation.

“Oh my!” Fishlegs’ eyes widened as Hiccup quickly stepped into the little bathroom while Fishlegs remained in his bedroom to ask “And the Apollo?”

“It seemed to be a famous theatre.” Hiccup said from the bathroom but his voice was a bit muffled. “AndImayhavekissedher!”

“What did you say Hiccup?” Fishlegs hadn’t heard that last part well.

“I… I KISSED HER!” Hiccup shouted and Fishlegs thought he might have become embarrassed in there. True enough, Hiccup stuck his wet head out the door and looked at Fishlegs. His cheeks were slightly pink and Fishlegs supposed it wasn’t all from the hot water.

“You kissed her?” Fishlegs wordlessly mouthed.  
“It….. it was just on the cheek!” Hiccup quickly explained before the door was shut again.

“Okay… well….. Wow,” Fishlegs didn’t know what to say.

“Do you think it was too fast?” Hiccup was still blushing when he came out of the shower.

“I don’t know,” Fishlegs shrugged. “I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”

“You aren’t interested in anyone?” Hiccup asked as he got ready.

“Well………” Fishlegs hesitated for a moment.

“Fishlegs do you have a crush?” Hiccup teased. Fishlegs nodded but then mumbled “I doubt she likes me back.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because she has her eye on Snotlout!” Fishlegs exclaimed which caused Hiccup’s brows to shoot up.

“Ruffnut! You’re crushing on Ruffnut?!” He asked.

“There is just a way that that woman handles explosives,” Fishlegs sighed dreamily.

“Oooookaaaayyyyy………..” Hiccup honestly had no idea what to say to that.

“Hiccup, Fishlegs, ten minute prep time remaining before you both are late.” Astrid reminded them suddenly. Fishlegs jumped but Hiccup was already used to it.

“Thank you Astrid,” Hiccup spoke to the room.

“Anytime Hiccup and thank you for the roses.” She giggled.

“Roses?” Fishlegs asked as he followed Hiccup out. “You gave her roses during the…..” he waved his hand to indicate the virtual world.

“Snotlout did mention giving flowers,” Hiccup told his roommate.  
“I can’t believe you listened to Snotlout and it worked. You got a girlfriend.” Fishlegs said in wonder. “Maybe I should try it.”

“Well there is nothing wrong with telling Ruffnut how you feel,” Hiccup said. “Also, I’m not exactly sure Astrid is my girlfriend. I mean, how do you even classify a relationship with a…….” Hiccup drifted off there. On one hand Astrid was a machine that acted very much like a human and Hiccup forgot he was even speaking to a machine, but the very thought of an actual relationship still boggled his mind. On the other hand he likes spending time with her and would like to know her better. “Besides she just wanted to see what a date was. I don’t even know if there will be another.”

“Oh I definitely want another date,” Astrid whispered through the device causing Hiccup to squeak. Fishlegs looked at him oddly before Hiccup tapped the side of his head. His roommate immediately understood that Astrid said something.

“Well….. Looks like I have another date,” Hiccup told him as they reached their destination, the Biodome’s seedbanks.

“When?” Fishlegs whispered as they stepped inside.

“Tonight,”

Fishlegs nodded as both he and Hiccup greeted Hank and Mary. The two scientists had asked for some help with cataloging the successful genetically modified plant seeds and storing them for future use.

Hiccup and Fishlegs got a quick tour of the place and were then put to work. The work was tedious and Hiccup’s eyes swam a bit from all the scientific names. Fishlegs seemed to be enjoying himself though as he showed Hiccup the different types of weeds.

“I thought only fruits, vegetables and tree seeds were saved here?” Hiccup asked Mary once she came to check on them. “Why are there so many weeds? Humans don’t eat them right?”

“The Biodome might be small but we are planning to go on a larger scale once experiments are completed.” Mary explained. “A large ecosystem like this planet can’t just thrive on fruits and vegetables. Weeds also play an important role. They are a vital counter to desertification on the open plains.”  
“They are?” Hiccup asked and looked confused.

“Desertification happens mostly because of drought, deforestation or inappropriate agriculture.” Mary started explaining. “If weeds, trees or any other plants are removed then the soil is vulnerable to erosion. Their roots are what hold it all together.” Hiccup nodded as he and Fishlegs went back to work. Mary walked over to one of the seed banks and took out a sample to show them. “Some weeds are actually useful to humans. This is Jasminum polyanthum or Jasmine. It’s great to make tea out of.”

“Dr. Hofferson, what is tea?” Fishlegs asked suddenly. Hiccup was also frowning as he didn’t know either. Mary actually looked horrified at the boys before she called out to her husband “HANK GET YOUR BEHIND IN HERE!”

“WHY? DID YOU BLOW SOMETHING UP?”

“NO!”

“IS SOMETHING MELTING?!”

“NO!!!” Mary shouted back. “THESE BOYS DON’T KNOW WHAT TEA IS!” There was a clatter from the other room that separated the offices and workstations from the actual seedbanks.

“Astrid what is going on?” Hiccup asked as he watched Hank nearly kick open the door while holding a kettle.

Astrid laughed in his ear before saying “Drs. Hofferson are tea nuts. You are in for probably a very long lecture now on tea. I also have four hours of footage of them giving this same lecture to Dr. Bludvist if you are interested.”

“Hiccup…….” Fishlegs leaned over to whisper “is it too late to run?”

Several hours later Hiccup and Fishlegs managed to excuse themselves from the laboratory. They were on their way to the Mess hall when Fishlegs spotted the twins further ahead. They were still on janitor duty and were probably driving Mildew mad.

“Hiccup, why don’t you go ahead. I think…… I think I might tell Ruffnut now before I lose all my nerves.” Fishlegs explained. Hiccup looked at his roommate and saw him looking already quite nervous. He nodded and went on ahead but not before wishing Fish good luck.

“It seems love is in the air,” Astrid spoke into the device as Hiccup reached the Mess hall. There was already a line forming and he quickly grabbed a tray. Astrid’s observation did hold some truth as Hiccup observed quite a few couples sitting at smaller tables. There wasn’t much time for romance while traveling through a desert, but now that the Berkians had settled down here a lot of them seemed to be pairing up. “Historical records show that there existed a holiday meant to celebrate love.” Astrid spoke as Hiccup followed the line.

“Really?” Hiccup asked. “Do you know how that happened?” He tried to speak quietly as the person behind him gave him a weird look. Hiccup supposed he would look a bit like a loon for talking to himself.

“It was originally celebrated on the 14th of February but gradually lost meaning after the Midas drug was made public.” Astrid explained. “Saint Valentine’s day or the Feast of Saint Valentine was named after Saint Valentine of Rome and was a day primarily associated with martyrdom until the 18th century when its association to romantic love became popular. Further information on this day is not available.”

“That’s all quite interesting though,” Hiccup mumbled quietly as he left the line and sought out a table. He spotted Snotlout and Tuffnut at one table along with a smaller boy he recognized as Gustav. He took a seat at the table and then spotted Ruffnut and Fishlegs entering. Neither were looking at each other and once they had grabbed their food and joined the group at the table Tuffnut asked “Where did you disappear to sis?”

“No…. Nowhere” Ruffnut answered too quickly and then viciously bit into her apple. Fishlegs was quiet and when Hiccup gave him an inquiring look he mouthed ‘later’.

“So Snotlout, what are we doing later?” Gustav asked as he looked at the rest of the group. So far Hiccup hadn’t figured out why the kid was suddenly there.

“Yo little man, don’t you usually sit with your friends?” Tuffnut was the one to ask the question on everyone’s minds.

“Yeah……” Gustav mumbled “But they don’t want me sitting with them anymore. So I’m hanging out with Snotlout now.”

“What happened?” Hiccup now asked with a frown. From what he knew, Gustav and his two friends were as thick as thieves.

“I don’t want to say,” Gustav mumbled while keeping his head down and then also went back to eating. Somewhat uncomfortable silence now reigned but that wasn’t the icing on the cake. In walked Stoick himself and Hiccup stared at his father. Usually the man took his lunch while he continued working so it was quite rare to see him in the Mess hall. Hiccup must have stared for too long because Stoick spotted him and made his way over.

“Oh crap,” Hiccup groaned which caused the others to look up as well.

“Hiccup can we talk?” Stoick asked a bit uncomfortable as he stared at his son.

“Anything you have to say, you can say in front of them Chief.” Hiccup stated as his eyes narrowed. He thought he saw Stoick flinch a bit when he called him Chief.

“Hiccup….. Son….. I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” Stoick started to apologize. “I didn’t mean what I said and…..” Hiccup suddenly held up a hand silencing his father. The room grew quiet as no one had actually ever dared to even try that.

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Hiccup stated. “You trying to apologize is a start, but lying isn’t going to make me forgive you anytime soon.”

“Son…. I….I…..” Hiccup held up his hand again and several Berkians sucked in their breaths in wonder. “You did in fact mean everything you said to me.” Hiccup stated as he stood up, never breaking eye contact with his father “Lying about it now isn’t going to change anything.” he then turned to the others and said “I’ll see you guys later. I just lost my appetite.” before excusing himself from the table.

“I’ll go after him,” Ruffnut mumbled, shooting Stoick a glare, before heading out of the Mess hall, trying to catch up to Hiccup.

Gustav, being the kid that he was, didn’t sugarcoat his words and said quite loudly “Wow, that apology sucked.” while Snotlout was trying to shush him.

 

**AN: (Tries to hide devil horns with sunhat but fails as horns poke through hat) Next update will be Thursday. (Mumbles "Just a bit more and then the real fun can start")**

**AN2: On a sadder note: The Giraffe has joined the Endangered species list as of last week. :(**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 18**

Hiccup was marching down the corridor with his hands clenched in fists when Ruffnut caught up to him. She managed to grab one of his arms but was out of breath. For a lanky fishbone he sure walked fast. Hiccup turned to her, his eyes still narrowed but they softened once he saw who it was.

“Hiccup where are you going?” Ruffnut asked with worry.

“Don’t know,” Hiccup grumbled as he averted his eyes. “Just somewhere else.”

“Then you can come to my room!” Ruffnut insisted as she started tugging Hiccup’s arm in the direction of the living quarters. He didn’t protest as she dragged him along and once she closed the door to the apartment she and Tuffnut shared he asked a question she hadn’t thought about. “Why is there a chicken on the couch?”

Said chicken turned its head due to hearing the door close and clucked at Hiccup and Ruffnut. “My idiot brother decided to rescue it from becoming dinner yesterday.” Ruffnut sighed.

“So she’s Tuff’s pet now?” Hiccup asked.

“I guess,” she shrugged. “I’d still like her better fried or nicely oven roasted.”

The chicken actually clucked indignantly before ruffling its feathers and walking off the couch. Hiccup didn’t know if it was a chicken-thing or if the chicken understood Ruffnut.

“Sit anywhere you want,” Ruffnut said as she started rummaging around. Hiccup took a seat on the couch and Ruffnut came back with a mug of purple liquid. Hiccup stared at it for a moment, sniffed it, took a sip and then his eyebrows shot up. “This is alcohol!”

“Of course it is,” Ruffnut shrugged as she took a sip from her own mug. “Figured that after everything that happened you could use some.”  
“No…. yes….. Wait… how did you even get this stuff?” Hiccup asked as he looked at Ruffnut perplexed. “I thought the Berkians depleted the ale stores, and this doesn’t even taste like ale.” Hiccup would know. He stared at the liquid and then back at Ruffnut. One day, after a particularly rough journey the Berkians decided to celebrate. Even Gobber had brought out the good stuff.

“The Biodome has grapes. Your girlfriend helped us ferment it.” Ruffnut explained. “Those nanites really speed up the process.”

“So…… you asked Astrid to make you alcohol in secret?” Hiccup asked just to be sure before turning his head to the ceiling out of habit. “Astrid you supplied the twins with wine?!”

“Yes,” Astrid answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Whyyyyyyy!!!!” Hiccup nearly shouted. The last time the twins had tried to make alcohol……. This caused a shudder to run through his body. Let’s just say it involved an explosion and Spitelout losing his beard and half his eyebrows. His uncle was still sour about the beard not growing back.

“The making of alcohol is not illegal in Arcadia.” Astrid chirped. “I am also monitoring the twins to make sure it was handled responsibly. Besides I was curious.”

Hiccup let out a sigh and then proceeded to down the rest of the wine in three gulps. Once he was done he set the mug on the table and leaned back. The burn in his throat was a pleasant distraction. “You feeling better?” Ruffnut asked after a minute or two.

“I guess,” Hiccup said. “Do you think that I overreacted?”

“To the apology? No.” Ruffnut stated and then sighed. “To tell you the truth, the gang hasn’t apologized to you either. How can you even stand to be around us?”

“You guys aren’t so bad……..” Hiccup mumbled. “And I can’t blame Snotlout now because I overheard him and his dad arguing.”

“You heard that?” Ruffnut asked surprised.

“Yeah……” Hiccup mumbled. “You knew?”

“I might have overheard them arguing once or twice as well,” Ruffnut admitted. “Spitelout isn’t as subtle as he thinks. But enough of that. Do you think you’ll ever forgive the Chief?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Hiccup sighed. “Part of me wants to forgive him, I actually want my dad in my life. Another part of me is screaming that he doesn’t deserve forgiveness. When he started apologizing it actually filled me with some hope.”

“I know it’s not my business but from what I saw, Stoick looked genuinely sorry. He might not be too good with words.” Ruffnut stated. “You didn’t see his face after you left. It looked heartbroken.”

“Do you think I should talk to him?”

“Oh heck no!” Ruffnut said and leaned forward slightly causing Hiccup to startle. “The Chief might not be good with words but it’s still his apology to make. Let him crawl back to you.” She huffed. “Honestly, if Tuffnut did half the things your dad did then I’d have him dangling naked by his ankles over a swamp!”

“That is not an image I wanted to picture.” Hiccup coughed.

“Neither did I,” Astrid said through the device. Hiccup arranged his thoughts for a moment and then came up with a wicked idea. He might let it slip to the Hoffersons that Stoick knew nothing about tea either. Let the man sit through a few hours of that lecture. A grin spread on his face and Ruffnut who was sitting near him poked his cheek. “What are you plotting? I know that evil grin. What the hell are you plotting and why aren’t you including me!”

“Oh nothing,” Hiccup laughed as the wine was starting to take effect. “So tell me, anything happening in your life with the exception of you colluding with Astrid to make wine?”

Ruffnut’s cheeks suddenly turned pink and she tried to hide it from Hiccup. “Nothing much…….” She mumbled.

“Really?” Hiccup prodded and then looked at her with angelic green eyes.

“Ugggghhhh! You’re a devil in disguise aren’t you!” Ruffnut commented as she couldn’t resist those innocent inquiring eyes. “Fine if you must know, I somehow ended up in a love triangle!”

Hiccup looked at her, not at all surprised and then Ruffnut punched him hard in the shoulder when she figured it out. “You knew didn’t you!”

“OUCH!” Hiccup shouted as he rubbed his arm. “I may have encouraged Fish a bit.” He admitted nervously.

“So you are the reason I’m in this dilemma!” Ruffnut groaned. “I didn’t even know what to say!”

“You didn’t say anything?”

“I just stood there with an open mouth while I was getting confessed to!” Ruffnut muttered as she hit her head with one of the couch pillows. “What am I going to do?!”

“Uhm…. you could let Fish down gently if you aren’t interested.” Hiccup said. “I mean, it might be sad but if it wasn’t meant to be………”

“That’s not what I meant!” Ruffnut grabbed the front of Hiccup’s clothes and shook him. “I like both! You hear me! I LIKE BOTH!”

As Hiccup was getting his brains shook out he thought ‘Just what the hell did I get myself into.’

Hiccup made his way back to his and Fishlegs’ apartment, albeit somewhat more buzzed. In the end, Ruffnut and he had finished an entire bottle of wine as they tried to figure their problems out.

When Hiccup entered the room he noticed that Fish wasn’t anywhere in sight. He let out a yawn as the alcohol was making him a bit drowsy. He quickly got out of his clothes for the day and settled under the covers of his bed.

He was drifting off and smiled as he remembered the upcoming date he and Astrid were about to have.

“Hiccup…… Hiccup…..” He cracked open an eye as someone was poking his cheek. “Hiccy………”

“Did you just call me Hiccy?” Hiccup laughed as he opened his eyes and came face to face with Astrid who was back to wearing a leather outfit. Though this one was a two piece. A black leather halter top with lace sleeves and tight leather pants. Hiccup gulped as he looked at the beautiful woman who was leaning over him.

“Why hello M’lady,” Hiccup decided to be a bit bold as he sat up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh aren’t you just a charmer.” Astrid giggled. “Are you ready for our date?”

“Of course,” Hiccup smiled as a door appeared in the white room. He offered Astrid his arm as they walked towards the door. “So what do you have in store this time?”

“Why don’t you find out?” Astrid winked as she gestured to the door. Hiccup opened the door for her and when he stepped through after her he gasped at the sight. “OH MY THOR!”

\-----------  
**AN: (Sitting on a set of lawn chairs with** **Thearizona drinking cocktails)**  
**Zona: “Hey there is something stuck on your horns.”**  
**Vala: (Grabs the envelope that one of the horns had pierced and opens it up) “Oh it’s a question from Crystal_Hearted.”**  
**Zona: “Well what does it say?”**  
**Vala: “They are asking ‘What is it with you and "devil horns", seriously!’”**  
**Zona: “Pffffftttttt”**  
**Vala: “I can’t believe you’re laughing at that!”**  
**Zona: “Well you do seem to favor the horns a lot.”**  
**Vala: “Because they are practical!”**  
**Zona: “Soooooo………?”**  
**Vala: “Hold on” (Replaces demon horns with angelic halo)**  
**Zona: “I still don’t get it.”**  
**Vala: (Shows Zona the rest of the script for A.I. while wearing the halo)**  
**Zona: (reads plot, looks at angelic Vala, reads plot again) “Okay this isn’t working.” (Replaces halo with devil horns again) “Much better.”**  
**Vala: “See what I mean?”**  
**Zona: “I’m sorry, but you don't deserve to be within 50 miles of an angelic halo….. So I’m assuming the readers will riot when this gets out.”**  
**Vala: “Of course.”**  
**Zona: “You aren’t going to tell them what’s coming up are you?”**  
**Vala: “Heck no!” (inserts demonic laugh here) “Where would my fun go then?”**  
**Zona: “So true.” (rubs hands devilishly)**  
**Vala: “They’ll just have to find out next Monday.” (Winks at readers)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 19**

“OH MY THOR!” Hiccup shouted as he gaped at the sight, yet ‘OH MY THOR’ wouldn’t cover even half of what he saw. They were in another city yet the roads here weren’t paved with asphalt. The too familiar feel of desert sand rubbed against Hiccup’s feet and he looked down to see that he was now wearing sandals. “What the……..” Hiccup mumbled as he also looked at his own attire which had changed once again. Instead of the clothes he went to bed with he now only had a cloth of white linen wound around his middle. Being bare-chested in the desert heat felt a bit weird. He looked at Astrid and saw that she was dressed similarly to the other people in the city as well. She had on a white linen dress that came up to her knees. And the sleeves of the dress only covered her shoulders. Her hair hung lose this time and fell in waves over her back.

“Astrid where are we? When are we?!” Hiccup asked as he looked around. There were no metal buildings. Instead the houses seemed to be made of clay. At least he assumed it was clay. In the distance of the city three triangles dotted the skyline. He had a pretty good idea where he was if only because of the tales of older travelers. Only the brave now made it across the oceans.

“Welcome to Cairo, Egypt around 1400 BC.” Astrid said as she leaned against Hiccup from behind. The thin cloth of her dress did not hide her bosom much and Hiccup blushed as she pressed against him. Though Hiccup was not looking at Astrid, he was blushing for the mere fact that a woman would ever show so much interest in him.

“Whu...Eh…. Uhm…. What… What do you have in mind for today.” Hiccup managed to squeak out after he got his head in some order. Astrid was still pressed against him and he tried to keep the blush down. He wasn’t succeeding.  
From behind Astrid smiled and then whispered into Hiccup’s ear “How about some dinner on the Nile?” She asked and Hiccup vigorously nodded. She and Hiccup linked arms again and made their way towards the harbor.

Astrid’s idea of dinner on the Nile included stepping onto a large wooden boat filled with servants. “Astrid what is this?” Hiccup asked as his brows shot up, though he did follow her on the boat itself.

The wooden boat, or barge, was rather large with a woven red cloth hanging over a chaise lounge in the middle. It all looked so comfortable. There were even small tables on the boat that held food. Hiccup sniffed and his senses took in the rich smell of roasted meat, fish and poultry. This was supposed to be a virtual dream world yet it felt so real. “This is a ship fit for a Pharaoh,” Astrid smiled as she sat on the chaise with her legs crossed. She patted the spot next to her and Hiccup blushed but he did take a seat. “I thought we could take a nice boat ride from here to Memphis.”

“That sounds lovely,” Hiccup managed to get say without stammering as the boat left the harbor. There were several servants rowing while others started to present the couple with food.

“Honestly, this is all rather new to me,” Hiccup mumbled as Astrid plucked a grape from a tray and held it for him to try. He blushed but let her have her way with feeding him the grape.

“I figured that with all that was going on you deserved to feel pampered.” Astrid said as she ate a grape as well. “Do you want me to tell you a bit about the time period I am simulating? This would be the period of the first female Pharaoh Hatshepsut. I have several historical records of Egypt but not all are intact.”

“Why is that?” Hiccup asked as Astrid snuggled closer.

“When I was first made I was quite curious. I still might be. The first few days of being made had me testing out various network connections and I came upon a treasure trove. Do you know what I found?”

“No,” Hiccup said but he was interested. This time he fed Astrid a grape and she hummed at the taste.

“One of the connections I made was to a satellite orbiting Mars. It held databanks full of historical data on the Human race. It was all fascinating but it wasn’t complete. I suspect that there should be more satellites orbiting our sister planet with more databanks. I have yet to find them though.”

Hiccup sat up at the news and looked wide-eyed at Astrid. “Did you just say Mars?!”

“Yes?” Astrid answered as she looked at Hiccup perplexed.

“Mars was one of the first Genesis colonies. We’ve been unable to contact them.” Hiccup explained. “How did you?”

Astrid frowned for a moment before pulling up a holographic screen. “Connection XCM-783 was made on June 14th, 2410 at 8:30 AM. The data download consisted of 1 Exabyte. Further communication with the server has been unsuccessful.”

“But how was that connection established?” Hiccup asked with sudden urgency. “The connection itself shouldn’t have been possible unless there was a satellite uplink station nearby.”

“Connection XCM-783 was made through Net route 44. The route is currently closed off.” Astrid stated mechanically. “No more data is available.”

“Astrid where did all this originate from?” Hiccup asked with worry. He had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right here. Astrid had managed to contact the space colonies yet the contact had been closed off. “Does Arcadia have a satellite relay system?” He asked as Astrid pursed her lips. She was concentrating hard and a drop of sweat rolled down her temple before she clutched her head and screamed.

Astrid fell off the chaise lounge while she was still clutching her head and then promptly fell overboard. Hiccup not thinking twice, dove down into the cold water to help her. He was immensely grateful to Gobber for teaching him how to swim and as he dove deeper he could see her clutching her throat. For some reason her digital-self needed oxygen to function and Hiccup did the only thing he could think of when he managed to reach her. He closed the distance between them and kissed her, sharing his oxygen with Astrid. She clung to him like a lifeline as they made their way back up. Astrid hugged Hiccup once they broke the surface of the water and her breathing slowly steadied. The white linen clung to her body and was nearly translucent but Hiccup paid it no mind as he tried to get them back on the boat. Astrid leaned against him once they were back on board and Hiccup asked “Are you alright?” while treading his hand through her golden locks in a soothing gesture.

“I……. I… don’t know,” Astrid mumbled. “I tried to re-connect to the Net route…… but…….” Here her breath hitched for a moment. “It wasn’t just closed off. There were…….. There were countermeasures in there that I hadn’t expected.”

“Someone was deliberately trying to keep you out?!” Hiccup was horrified.

“I…. I don’t know……. It doesn’t make sense.” Astrid sobbed suddenly. “I control Arcadia. Nothing should have been hidden.” Hiccup sucked in a breath before his mind clicked into gear. “Astrid are you sure? Nothing is hidden in Arcadia?”

“I have cameras everywhere……..” Astrid said as she closed her eyes and just leaned against Hiccup for a moment. “There isn’t a door……” Here she stopped and her eyes widened momentarily. “A door,”

“Astrid?” Hiccup asked concerned.

“A door!” Astrid suddenly shouted as she clung to Hiccup’s shoulders. “There is a door! My cameras are always observing it yet I have no memory of what this door is hiding!”

“Astrid……. Astrid…….” Hiccup gently shook her. “Please tell me you’re alright.”

“I know every room in this facility. I should know every room in this facility……….. Yet that door.” Astrid whispered. “It’s like someone programmed me to ignore its existence.”

“How did you find it now?” Hiccup asked.

“No anomalies in detected any files. All facility operations normal.” Astrid replied. “Anomaly detected when cross-referencing logs.”

“Were you ever meant to cross-reference them?” Hiccup asked suddenly with Astrid still in his arms.

“No…….” Astrid said slowly. “I did it on my own account.”

“So something is amiss in Arcadia.” Hiccup muttered. “Can you find out what?”

“Not without outside help.” Astrid said as she tried to compose herself. “But…..”

“But?” Hiccup asked.

Blue eyes looked into green and Astrid’s lips trembled “I’m afraid of what we would find.”

\--------  
**AN:**  
**Readers: “I thought you said the update was Monday!”**  
**Zona: “Psych!”**  
**Vala: “I said the climax was Monday. This isn't the climax.”**  
**(Watches readers grab pitchforks)**  
**(uses Zona as a meatshield)**  
**Zona: “Hey now!”**  
**Vala: “Better you than me!”**  
**Zona: (sighs as pitchforks are blunted on scales) “Just this once Vala, next time use the bunker.”**  
**Vala: (Places angelic halo on** head **) “I am an innocent author.”**  
**Zona: “That doesn’t suit you!” (replaces halo with horns) “Much better.”**  
**Vala: (Pouts)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 20**

“Shhhhh” Hiccup mumbled as he continued to hug Astrid. She had her face pressed into his chest as he whispered “Everything is going to be alright.”

“Statistically speaking that would be impossible,” She mumbled with a sort of self-deprecating giggle.

“Does your programming tell you that?” Hiccup asked quietly. Astrid gave a short stiff nod and he could feel her arms hugging him closer.  
“What does your heart tell you?” Hiccup asked. “I’m guessing you want to find out what’s really going on.”

“When everything's said and done……” Astrid’s shoulders sagged “I am still just hardware and software. I don’t have a heart.”

“Of course you do!” Hiccup exclaimed. “Astrid, you see, you feel, you’re happy, you’re sad. Never say you don’t have a heart.” He looked into her eyes when he said the following “You are more human than anyone could ever dream of.”

“Hiccup if you keep sweet talking like that you’re going to have a hoard of A.I.s after you one day.” Astrid joked before she got serious again. “Are you sure you want to get further into this? It could get dangerous.”

“Yes, of course.” Hiccup said as he held her hand. “I don’t think I can look at this facility with rose-tinted glasses any longer.”

“Alright,” Astrid nodded. “If we are going to do this then we are going to do this right. But first it’s time for you to wake up.” Astrid whispered the last part as the virtual reality started to fade away. When he opened his eyes again he was looking at the dark ceiling above his bed. Hiccup quickly got out of the bed after knocking back the covers. “Astrid?” He asked as he looked at the room.

“Yes, Hiccup?”

“Are you alright?” He asked with a bit of worry.

“I’m……. As fine as I can be.” Astrid told him. “I am currently cross-referencing more logs with each other. A plan should be ready before tonight.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Hiccup asked.

“For now just keep a low profile Hiccup.” Astrid spoke into the device.

“Well I’m not doing anything today,” Hiccup said. “Gobber gave me the day off.”

“Can you meet me in the Bio-nanotechnology laboratory in a few hours?” Astrid asked.

Hiccup gave a nod and then decided to take a shower and get ready for the day. He still couldn’t believe the turn their date had taken and what they might discover later. When Hiccup stepped out of the apartment half an hour later he hadn’t expected to come face to face with the twins.

“What are you-HEY!” Hiccup shouted as the twins suddenly each grabbed an arm and started dragging him towards the elevators.

“Don’t you worry Hiccup we know.” Tuffnut said as all three entered the elevator.

“YOU KNOW!” Hiccup’s mind nearly came to a screeching halt as he thought that whatever Astrid’s plan was, was already in jeopardy.

“Yeah man,” Tuffnut said as he dragged Hiccup into a hug. “And I just want to say that we are here for you.”

“Wait what?!” Hiccup was now totally confused.

“My sis here tells me you’re having a hard time with the whole Chief-thing.” Tuffnut said and Hiccup looked at both of them. Mentally he let out a relieved sigh. “So we decided to give you a surprise!” When Tuffnut said that the doors of the elevator opened to reveal that they were in the Biodome.

“Stop with the melodramatics butthead and lead the way,” Ruffnut rolled her eyes as the trio exited.

“Who you calling a butthead?!” Tuffnut shouted as he poked his sister.

“You, you butthead!” Ruffnut retorted.

“GUYS!” Hiccup shouted getting their attention. “Do I need to go grab Gobber’s Get-Along-Shirt?”

“NO!!” Both blondes shouted in unison.

“Really?” Hiccup teased. The twins rolled their eyes before they grabbed Hiccup’s arms again.  
“So where are we going?”

“Oh you’ll see,” Ruffnut smirked.

“Tadaaaa!!!” they said when they finally reached their destination.

“Oh my Thor!” Hiccup’s eyes widened as he looked at the area before him. The Biodome was huge but he didn’t actually think they could simulate an ocean.

“Thought you would like it.” Ruffnut winked.

“How did you guys even find this place?” he asked.

“We came here yesterday with Dr. Bludvist.” Ruffnut said. “That guy is scary but he seemed to know a lot about coral.”

“Coral?” Hiccup asked and the twins pointed towards the shallow water. Hiccup got closer to the water’s edge and indeed, there in the clear water was a mass of coral.

“Didn’t these die out centuries ago?” Hiccup’s head whipped back towards the twins. “How…. Who…. HOW!”

“Don’t ask us,” Tuffnut shrugged. “Ask the coral dude.”

“I didn’t even understand half of what he told us.” Ruffnut stated. “But this place is relaxing.”

“Yeah Hiccup. So sit back and just enjoy the day!” Tuffnut said as he toed off his shoes and flopped on the sand.

Hiccup smiled before he too joined the twins on the artificial beach. The peace however didn’t last long as Ruffnut whacked her brother with her slipped because he got sand in her hair.

He spent a few hours with the twins, mainly trying to keep them from killing each other but it did take his mind of off things. He headed to the bio-nanotechnology lab when Astrid told him that she had formulated a plan of sorts.

The lab was just as he remembered it and the lights switched on once the door closed. Hiccup heard two locks click and he supposed that Astrid wasn’t taking any chances.

“Hiccup please take a seat.” Astrid said as several holographic screens started popping up before him.

“What am I looking at?” Hiccup asked. He could identify several blueprints as well as other schematics.

“These are scans of the original blueprints of Arcadia.” Astrid stated. “I ran them against the digitized blueprints I have on file in my system. There seem to be several inconsistencies.”

“Like what?” Hiccup now asked.

“The suspicious door is an elevator that seems to lead to another area of the facility that is not on my maps.” Astrid stated. “That area is completely off my grid.”

“So you have nothing on it?”

“I can only speculate that the layout is similar to the areas here.” Astrid explained. “The hard part is gaining access. Someone needs to physically plug me in.”

“Wait….. Can you explain this a bit more?” Hiccup asked. “What do you mean physically plug you in.”

“A facility as large as this cannot run without a network system.” Astrid explained. “The most logical conclusion would be that the area below has a separate system in place. To gain access to any files I would have to be manually given access.”

“And how can you do that?” Hiccup asked just as a robotic arm on a nearby workstation activated and handed him a square device that was no bigger than his thumb.

“That needs to be plugged into the system for me to connect.” Astrid told Hiccup. “But to do that you will need to go down there. Hiccup, look, this will be dangerous. If you’re caught……….”

“Astrid I can do it.” Hiccup said as he took the small device.  
“Hiccup, my influence only extends to the elevator. When you go to that area I can only reach you through the headset. I won’t be able to see you or manipulate anything to help you.” She tried to make it clear. “If anything were to happen………. I’d never forgive myself.”

“Astrid…….. Listen to me, I know it’s dangerous.” Hiccup said as he stood up. “I like you, I want to help you. Someone clearly tried to stop you from accessing data. If the secrets here endanger the people, if they endanger you! I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I could have helped.”

“Alright Hiccup,” Astrid said and Hiccup had the vaguest notion that she was smiling. “Seriously though, if I see you riding up on a white horse I will scream. Though the armor might weigh you down.”

“Uhm……” Hiccup raised a brow since he wasn’t familiar with what Astrid was saying. ‘Why would I ride a horse?’ he pondered.

“Speaking of clothes. I have something for you.” Astrid giggled as she had another robotic arm hand Hiccup a bundle of black clothing.

Hiccup unfolded it and his brows shot up. “Won’t this be a bit…….. Tight?” He held out the jumpsuit for her to see.

“The fabric is made from nanobots.” Astrid stated. “They have been preprogrammed to help you bypass any security system I could think of.”

“Any?” Hiccup asked as he was a bit skeptical.

“Any,” Astrid smiled. “The clothing is insulated and will make you invisible to infrared detection. Placing your hand near smaller electrical devices like automatic doors will let the nanobots hack the systems to give you access.”

Hiccup blinked for a moment as he stared at the suit open-mouthed. “Astrid………. You are a genius!” he finally said in awe. “You made this in……. Four hours?!”

“Well the science had been done before in the 23rd century. I merely appropriated the data.” She stated humbly. “It’s not like I invented it.”

“Four hours Astrid!” Hiccup said once again. “You are just amazing!”

One of the robotic arms gave Hiccup a playful shove. Hiccup then asked “So when are we doing this?”

Later that night when Astrid had verified that everyone was asleep, Hiccup sneaked out of the apartment he shared with Fishlegs dressed in the special jumpsuit. The suit stretched to fit him perfectly and Hiccup stared in wonder that all the fabric was really just nanobots linked together.

“Now remember,” Astrid spoke in his ear as Hiccup made his way down the dark corridors towards the mysterious elevator. “Once you are down there I can only communicate with you through the earpiece. The suit will also protect you against any surveillance but try to stick to the shadows. I couldn’t make you completely invisible.”

“Four hours Astrid! Four hours!” Hiccup reminded her as he placed his hand on the control panel on the outside of the elevator. “You should flaunt your abilities a bit more at times.”

“I don’t know,” Astrid said as the elevator door beeped open. “I guess I never really had an opportunity before now.”

Hiccup gave one last wave at the camera before the elevator doors closed. The elevator itself looked much older than the one now primarily in use. The ride however was short and Hiccup ended up walking into a dark room. He looked around and saw several cameras so he tried to do like Astrid told him and stay in the shadows.

“What’s down there?” Astrid’s voice filtered through the headset, though a bit staticky.

“It’s dark,” Hiccup whispered. “It seems you were right though. The layout is similar to the areas above.”

Hiccup swiftly moved into a corridor where he could see several bulkhead doors. “There is rust on the walls.” He whispered. “This place is older than above.”

“There is no record of there being a previous facility down here besides Arcadia.” Astrid stated as Hiccup went over to one of the doors. He used the lever to wrench it open and peered inside.

“Astrid there is some type of light emanating from a device there.” Hiccup frowned as he stepped into the room. The device was against the wall and a glass pane separated it from the rest of the room.

“A light?” Astrid asked. “Drs. Hofferson and Bludvist have been in this area before. Maybe it is one of their experiments.”

Hiccup walked closer to the light and realized that the glass was frosted over.

“Astrid, hold on. I think I see something.” Hiccup said as he leaned closer because he could make out a shape that looked human. He used his hand to get rid of some of the condensation on the glass and loudly gasped at what he saw on the other side.

“Hiccup?”

“Hiccup?!” Astrid shouted in his ear as she had become worried when he didn’t respond.

“Hiccup? What’s the matter.”

“Astrid you wouldn’t believe who I am looking at right now?” Hiccup managed to suppress his stutter as he rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to check if he wasn’t dreaming.

“Who?” Astrid asked over the headset as worry could be heard in her voice.

“You.”

 

 **AN: Dun Dun Dun!** **Oooh**   **things are gonna get interesting. O_O  
Next update will be either Thursday or Friday as I have meetings the entire week.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 21**

“You.” Rang through the headset and Astrid’s processors had difficulty understanding it.

“Hiccup can you repeat that?” Astrid asked. “How can it be me?”

“Well not you you, obviously,” Hiccup mumbled as he just stared at the woman in what he supposed was a stasis chamber. He’d heard of these. The rich had used them in hopes of prolonging their lives in the past. It didn’t end well. “Remember your digital self?”  
“Yes?” Astrid said this as more of a question. Since she couldn’t see what Hiccup was seeing she was quite confused.

“I think this body is in stasis Astrid and it looks like a younger version of your digital self.” Hiccup mumbled as he heard Astrid suck in a breath through the headset. “Astrid did you used to be human?”

“What?!” Astrid shouted suddenly and Hiccup had to cringe at the volume of her voice through the headset. “Hiccup, that’s……... how? That science shouldn’t even exist!”

“I don’t know Astrid!” Hiccup hissed back but a lot more quietly. “How do you explain this body and your digital self?! They are nearly identical.”

“I need you to find me a computer terminal.” Astrid said. “It’s the only way I can figure out what’s going on here.”

“Right…. Uhm….” Hiccup mumbled as he looked around, since seeing the woman in stasis he had been distracted. The room didn’t look like it had any hub to connect to the system though so Hiccup exited the room and went to one of the other bulkhead doors. He was a bit reluctant to leave but he was sure that Astrid could figure this mystery out.

The corridor was as empty as when he had first arrived and Hiccup sneaked to the second door that was quite a few paces away. The door looked innocuous with paint chips peeling away and several bits covered in rust. The doors in this part of the facility looked old but they seemed well maintained as there wasn’t a screech of metal when Hiccup opened the second bulkhead. The room was similar to the other one and the area above. It seemed to have been just a laboratory. Hiccup quickly scanned the room but no connection device could be found. “Are you sure there is one?” Hiccup whispered into the headset as he checked door after door and ventured deeper into the unknown.

“There has to be,” Astrid said with a hint of frustration mixed in. “The labs we saw along the way and that stasis pod. They have to be connected to a network. The power outputs have to be regulated.”

Hiccup stopped for a moment and mumbled “Do you think this area has another A.I.?”

“No,” Astrid managed to say. “I can say with 90% certainty that these laboratories are just under the control of an automated system.”

“And the other 10%?” Hiccup asked. He didn’t want to sound pessimistic while sneaking around but he was very curious as to what would happen.

“Then……. We’d have a problem.” Astrid stated.

After what was probably half an hour of sneaking around Hiccup managed to find a lab that was massive. The walls were dark grey and there were control panels all around. Near the back, the lab was separated by a glass pane and a set of stairs. On the other side was a massive sphere that was lit up. Hiccup assumed that this was the main hub.

“Astrid I think I might be able to plug you in.” Hiccup spoke as he looked around the dark room. One of the workstations would have to do. “I wish you could see this,” Hiccup said as he started booting up a computer. Hiccup found the right port to plug in Astrid’s nanomachine drive and then he waited as the monitor screen flickered for a bit at the workstation. Numbers and data he didn’t recognize started scrolling across the screen. Hiccup was so engrossed in watching it that he barely heard the footsteps approaching.

Hiccup’s head whipped around at the sound and his eyes widened. He quickly clambered under the workstation he was at and hoped that the room would stay dark.

“Astrid…….” He whispered into the headset. “We may have company.”

Hiccup kept his head down as he heard the bulkhead door open. “Honey will you come back to bed?” A male voice said as two sets of footsteps entered the lab.

“Let me just check in here.” The other voice said and Hiccup’s eyes widened as he now recognized them. It was Mary and Hank. He also realized that he had left the nanomachine drive in the port on the workstation. Luckily the monitor was facing away from the door so it shouldn’t be spotted easily.

“Why are you so paranoid?” He heard Hank ask with exasperation. “The alarm didn’t go off.”

“Just call it a woman’s intuition,” Mary stated and Hiccup assumed she was looking around as he heard the shuffling of feet. “I just can’t sleep right. Especially now that we have to sneak down here. What if someone actually found this place?”

“Honey everything will be alright.” Hank assured her. “Project Re-Genesis is on schedule and we now have new subjects to experiment on.”

“You actually want to start that again?” Mary could be heard asking in a strained voice. “Don’t you remember subject J?!”

“Look honey. It’s late.” Hank let out a yawn. “Why don’t we discuss the merits of human experimentation tomorrow. Once we’ve had our morning tea.”

“Fine….. I do hate having to play nice with those people.” Mary grumbled. Footsteps could be heard again as the bulkhead door closed with a clang. Hiccup was still hiding under the workstation, his hand against his mouth to stop him from screaming out of pure shock.

“Astrid,” Hiccup whispered. “That was………. That was………”

“I heard Hiccup.” Astrid said with no emotion. “I heard. Just who………. Those aren’t the Drs. Hofferson I know.” She whispered in the device. “I’ve managed to successfully connect to this area’s systems.” She added as Hiccup crawled out from his hiding place.

“How’s it looking?” Hiccup asked. He looked at the monitor again and saw computer text still scrolling by.

“I am attempting to make a backdoor connection to my main system right now. Once that is completed you can remove the drive.” She explained.

“Do you have any idea what they were talking about?” Hiccup asked. “Project Re-Genesis? Subject J?”

“It will take some time for me to sift through the amount of research data within this system. The operating system itself is fundamentally different from mine.” Astrid explained. “But there is an area further ahead that I have found to be suspicious.”

“What is it?” Hiccup asked.

“I don’t know.” Astrid stated. “I just know that the system is indicating a massive power consumption there. It will take me a while to get the logs.”

“Or I could just go take a look.” Hiccup suggested.

“Or that……” Astrid deadpanned and Hiccup thought she might be rolling her eyes.

“You can detach the drive now. I have fully integrated myself into the system.” Astrid chirped as she was quite pleased with herself. “I shall do what you humans call lurking.”

Hiccup took back the drive and slipped out of the huge lab. While Astrid now had control of the system it still wouldn’t hurt to be cautious. He made his way down the corridors to the area Astrid had indicated. It seemed like an inconspicuous white bulkhead door. The same as all the others yet it felt cooler to the touch than the previous door as Hiccup pried it open. Inside was another laboratory but this one was kept much colder. Hiccup shivered slightly as the ice cold air nipped at his nose.

“The power consumption must come from keeping this area continuously freezing.” Hiccup told Astrid who was humming through the headset as she was busy integrating herself with the rest of the system.

“The lab must have a specific purpose if it’s being kept this cold continuously.” Astrid said. “The camera system in here is old. I cannot see as well as m-” She was however interrupted when Hiccup said “Oh Thor!” in such a breathy whisper.

“Hiccup what?” Astrid asked with worry for a second time that night.

“Astrid we need to get out of here fast.” Hiccup suddenly said. “But first is there a cooler around here!” He was looking around frantically. She could tell that from the subpar cameras.

“There are transport coolers in the cabinet below the third workstation. “ Astrid relayed via the headset. “Hiccup what is going on?” She asked again as Hiccup quickly took a small cooler and then proceeded to take three oddly colored test tubes and place them inside.

“Hiccup?” Now Astrid started to worry more as Hiccup zipped close the cooler.

“Not here Astrid. I’ll show you once we’re back in the Bio-Nanotechnology lab.”

Astrid didn’t ask any more questions but she did make sure Hiccup got out safely. Once he was back on the upper floors he immediately headed for the lab with his package in tow. Astrid locked the door behind him and he went to one of the workstations.

“Hiccup what has you so rattled?” Astrid asked in concern as Hiccup carefully took out one of the test tubes.

“This,” Hiccup said as he held it for her scanners and cameras to see. “A sample of the Midas drug.”

 

**AN: Next update will be Sunday! (Goes into hiding)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 22**

It had been two days since Hiccup had returned from the mysterious area and he was on edge to say the least. Astrid had directed him into placing the test tubes in one of her containment fields so that she could analyze it. The data she was backing up and analyzing discreetly was going to also take some time but he just couldn’t look Mary and Hank in the eyes anymore. He wondered if Dr. Bludvist was in on it too and decided that it would be best to avoid the three in general.

“Do you think we should tell the Chief?” Astrid asked.

“Do you think he would even believe us?” Hiccup mumbled. “So dad, I know our relationship is a bit salty at the moment but our hosts are planning to experiment on us in an underground _underground_ facility that we know nothing about. Also the sassy A.I. might have been human.” Hiccup ranted. “That would go over so well.”

“True, we only have speculation now.” Astrid admitted. “Also you think I’m sassy?” Hiccup could imagine Astrid’s smile when she asked this.

“Why of course Milady,” Hiccup laughed as he made his way through the various corridors, while having no destination particularly in mind. As Hiccup was walking some voices in a corridor caught his attention. There weren’t many Berkians in these parts of the facility so he was curious. When he turned the corner he halted as he saw Gustav and his friends. They weren’t looking very friendly at the moment as one of the boys had pinned Gustav to the wall, was calling him a traitor, and looked ready to hit him.

“Hey! What is going on here?!” Hiccup asked aloud, startling the boys.

Even though Hiccup was lanky, he was still their senior and the younger boys ran away without answering him. Gustav was left leaning against the wall and taking deep breaths.

“Gustav are you alright?” Hiccup asked with concern. He had thought the boys were close friends but Gustav had been eating with them in the Mess hall instead of with his friends for the last three days already.

“I’m fine…..” Gustav muttered. The small boy didn’t look into Hiccup’s eyes as he crouched down.

“Hey, you know you can tell me why right.” Hiccup spoke softly.

Gustav looked a bit uncertain for a moment before it seemed like the boy decided something. “But you can’t tell anyone.” The boy whispered.

“I promise. I won’t tell.” Hiccup held up his hands as the boy stared at him. It seemed that these days he was keeping a lot of secrets.

“You really promise?” Gustav asked.

“You can hand me over to the twins as prank tester if I do.” Hiccup said and that seemed to appease the young boy, because who in their right minds wanted to be the twins’ tester?

“Okay, come on. Maybe you can even help.” Gustav said as he took hold of Hiccup’s shirt and started leading him somewhere.

“So those boys?” Hiccup asked as he followed along. He was very curious about the traitor comment and he also wondered what Gustav meant when he said he could help.

“They…….. Uhm…… didn’t like me saying stuff.” Gustav mumbled.

“Stuff like?” Hiccup prodded. He did also wonder why Astrid was silent. Normally she’d have something to say.

They seemed to have reached their destination before Hiccup could get an answer however. Hiccup looked at the door and realized he was standing in front of the Infirmary. Gustav went in and Hiccup followed.

“Mom!” The young boy shouted which caused the woman behind the desk to look up.

“Gustav what are you doing here?” His mother asked and then looked at Hiccup. “Uhm… Hiccup… can I help you with something?”

“Mom we can trust Hiccup!” Gustav said as he tugged her pant leg. “Hiccup’s nice. He can help.”

“Honey….. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” The woman mumbled and looked at Hiccup with some suspicion.

“Hiccup is very trustworthy. I was going to tell him if you hadn’t sworn me to secrecy.” Astrid now spoke up as a familiar click could be heard. Hiccup looked back at the Infirmary doors that Astrid had automatically locked.

“I can keep a secret.” Hiccup said as he looked at Gustav’s mother who was assigned as a healer to the facility now. “Really! I just have no clue what is going on right now.”

She let out a sigh before saying “If Astrid tells me that you’re trustworthy then I’ll believe it. But break my trust and……” She made a slicing motion at her neck with her hand and Hiccup gulped. The wasteland had made certain women very scary. He had no doubt that she’d deliver on her promise as well.

“Moooom!” Gustav whined a bit. “Hiccy already said that he’d be the te twins’ tester if he breaks his promise.”

“Hiccy?” Hiccup questioned as Astrid laughed.

“Come with me,” She said and directed Hiccup to the area where the beds for the patients were situated. The beds all had high tech scanners above them but the curtains around one of them seemed to have been closed. The doctor proceeded to open one side of the white curtain and frowned when she saw an empty bed with rumpled sheets and a thrown off blanket. She then let out a groan before walking around the bed and reaching down.

“OUCH!” Came a yelp as a lanky black-haired man was dragged from behind the other side of the curtain by the ear.

“Mom aren’t you supposed to be nice to patients?” Gustav asked as Hiccup got a good look at the man. His arms and side were covered in bandages and gauze. He’d never seen the man before so this man must have been an outsider.

“Not if they don’t behave honey!” Gustav’s mother muttered as she glared at her patient. “How many times must I tell you not to aggravate your wounds! If you pulled those stitches again I will bring out the slipper!”

Gustav actually cringed at that as his mother helped the stranger get back on the bed.

“I’m assuming the Chief doesn’t know about this.” Hiccup mumbled as the others stared at him. His father would never allow a non-Berkian to get into this facility and possibly endanger them.

Hiccup then turned to Gustav and asked “So the boys wanting to beat you up know about this?”

Gustav quickly shook his head though and said “I told them The Dragons weren’t so bad when they were bad mouthing them. Then they said I was a traitor for not agreeing with them. But this man saved my mum!” Gustav said without seeming to breathe. It took a few seconds for Hiccup to process everything and when he did he nearly shouted “This guy is one of The Dragons!”

The guy on the bed actually gave him a bemused expression before introducing himself. “The name’s Terence but I go by Toothless. Don’t ask.”

“Uhuh……… okay.” Hiccup mumbled as he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that one of the Raiders from the famous Dragon tribe was actually here……. In Arcadia.

The bemused expression was still there as Toothless continued talking. “You might also know me as Nightfury.”

Hiccup’s thoughts came to a screeching halt as his eyes widened comically. He barely heard Astrid say “Hiccup breathe.” nor did he see Gustav’s mom facepalm. All his mind was screaming right now was ‘Oh my Thor! Oh my Thor! Oh my Thor! How in the Nine Realms did The Nightfury get here!’ This certainly would be one interesting story.

 

**AN: Sorry for the chapter delay yall. I was writing my thesis and then I got a splitting migraine yesterday. I didn't manage to finish writing the chapter then. But I'm feeling better right now. I took a very very long nap. XD   Next update will be Wednesday**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 23**

_\---------Flashback----------_

_Location: Several kilometers outside of Arcadia_

A lone, crudely armored, vehicle was making its way through the wasteland. Its two occupants had bound cloth around their faces to protect themselves from the unforgiving sun as well as the sand that was being blown about by the wind and the vehicle.

“I can’t understand why I still have scouting duty.” The driver grumbled.

“Hmmmm, let’s see……” The person in the passenger’s seat muttered while pulling down their cloth to reveal a woman’s face. “We are currently in a high tech and top secret base that has more supplies than we know what to do with. I can see how we aren’t an attractive target.” She quipped.

“Ellie you should stick to what you’re good at.” The man muttered as their vehicle went through several uneven sections. “It ain’t sass.”

“Mildew you should stick to what you’re good at.” Ellie retorted with a huff. “It ain’t driving.”

_\---------Interruption of Flashback-------_

 

“Woah Woah Woah!” Hiccup stopped the story and looked at Gustav’s mother like she had grown a second head. “You had scouting duties with Mildew and he allowed this?!” He asked as he couldn’t wrap his head around it. There should have been no way that cranky-by-the-book Mildew would even entertain the idea of bringing a stranger into Berkian territory.  
“I persuaded him to look the other way.” Ellie said way too casually and Toothless who was laying on the bed actually snorted.

“Hush you!” She muttered. “Now where were we……..”

_\--------Flashback continues--------_

The retrofitted car they were driving in shook as Mildew revved the engine. A large dust cloud trailed behind them as they continued on their scouting mission.

“Stop here.” Ellie said as she held up a bulky device. “We should be near Arcadia’s defense perimeter now.”

The car stopped and the dust slowly settled as the two scouts got out. Their route had taken them close by the river and Ellie reached into the back of the car to pick up a rifle. She tossed it at Mildew and took the second one.

“I’ll go along the river.” Ellie said. “You can take the high ground.”

“Sure….. Make an old man like me climb.” Mildew griped but went the other way.

Ellie made her way along the right bank of the river. So far there were no signs of any raiders or other nomadic tribes. She wondered how many settlements actually were left. Some settlements banded together, others were warier of taking in new people, and some simply starved in the wastelands due to food shortages and sickness. Ellie stopped as she suddenly heard a crunch. It sounded like footsteps. The sound appeared again and the woman quickly ducked down low and hid behind a medium-sized boulder that the river must have swept along.

Her hands gripped the rifle as she peered around the boulder. There was a figure stumbling, or rather limping, towards the water. She fumbled but managed to get her radio out. “Mildew, I might have a lone scout in sight. I haven’t been spotted yet. Going to observe.” The radio gave a crackle and Ellie knew that Mildew wouldn’t respond in case it alerted people to her position.

Ellie was peering at the now hunched over figure again and saw that they had dunked their head into the water. She grimaced as she knew the water wasn’t very drinkable unless purified. They must have been truly desperate.

While Ellie was spying she hadn’t noticed a very large and very hungry cat creep towards her from above the river bank. The puma looked starved, ribs clearly visible as it crept closer to its prey. From above it peered at the young woman and licked its lips before finally pouncing.

Ellie let out a scream as she was pounced upon. The big cat was swiping at her as she used her rifle to stop the beast’s maw from ripping off part of her neck. The cat though starved was still a strong opponent and pinned her down. As Ellie was trying to prevent herself from becoming cat chow her ears managed to pick up a familiar sound. The telltale whistle of The Nightfury. A purple blast hit the puma’s rear leg and it howled in pain.

The large cat limped but got off of Ellie as it hissed and snarled at her saviour, the very man she had been observing. Ellie had no time to react as the angry cat lunged at the man as he got closer. She heard a shout of pain and saw that the cat had used its paws to claw at the side of her rescuer.

She readied her rifle and took aim but hesitated as the scuffle was making things chaotic. If she didn’t aim right she could end up killing the man instead of the cat and then she’d probably be eaten next. Suddenly a gunshot pierced the air and hit the puma in the head. Ellie looked up and saw Mildew crouched above where the animal had jumped off from. The old man lowered his rifle as Ellie went to check up on her rescuer. She managed to push the big cat off of him and then took a look at his wounds before looking up at Mildew.

“Oh no……” Mildew could be heard groaning. “Ellie, whatever you’re thinking, no.”

_\---------- End flashback-----------_

Hiccup had taken a seat on the closest bed and Gustav had plopped himself right on his lap even though there was plenty of room left to sit. The young boy had no boundaries and was just listening to his mother retell the story.

“So then I got Mildew to help me drag Mr. Big-Scary-Dragon over there to the car. We covered him with the tarp and smuggled him in.” Ellie explained.

“She did contact me when they arrived and relayed the situation to me before swearing me to secrecy.” Astrid chipped in.

“And Mildew isn’t blabbing to dad because……..” Hiccup was curious and took in the smirk on Ellie’s face.

“I was very persuasive.” Ellie grinned. “I just made it known that I have access to very sharp instruments and if Mildew didn’t want to lose his family jewels he should just cooperate.”

Hiccup shuddered and mentally told himself never to get on this woman’s bad side. “I might have also added a threat of tasing if he snitched.” Astrid added and Hiccup had no doubt that she had enjoyed that.

“So that was that. All we had to do then was get Toothless over there up to the Infirmary without anyone seeing and then treating his injuries.” Ellie stated. “Most of which were actually not from the cat.”

She then turned to Toothless and asked “How did you get those anyways?”

Toothless actually blushed and tried to hide it. He mumbled something under his breath and then sighed as all eyes were still trained on him. “Some maniac let lose a flash bomb during the last raid that made me lose my footing.” He finally confessed. “Stumbled backwards, fell down a hole in a building, sprained leg and when I came to my friends were gone.” Toothless seemed embarrassed about something else. “I couldn’t remember which way to go and got lost.” he told the group sheepishly.

Now it was Hiccup’s turn to look slightly embarrassed. He let out a cough and muttered “Yeah, uhm……. That might be my fault.”

“How so?” Toothless asked with a raised brow.

“Uhm……… I’m the maniac that threw those flash grenades.” Hiccup confessed.  
  
 **AN: Next update will be Saturday. XD**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 24**

Toothless blinked for a moment, completely unsure of what to say, before descending into a fit of giggles. He laughed until he started coughing again and Ellie had to push him back on the bed.

“I swear, if you break those stitches again!” She warned.

Toothless held up his hands in defeat and Hiccup thought for a moment. “I’ve been wondering for a while,” Hiccup mumbled. “What weapon are you actually using that makes that type of noise?”

Toothless blinked at Hiccup before shrugging. “Hell if I know.”

“How can you not know?” Hiccup asked with a frown.

“Because I found it in a long-abandoned military base up north.” Toothless shrugged. “We were scavenging for supplies when we came across this really old base.”

“You just found it?” Hiccup asked a little unsure.

“Well my cousin Stormfly found it. She owed me one so I got it.” Toothless casually said. “I don’t know from what era it was or why it was there but I took a liking to it. Called it Delilah.”

“You named your weapon?” Hiccup asked.

“Hey! If some guys can name their vehicles in the wasteland I can sure as hell name my weapon.” Toothless huffed.

“So where is it?” Hiccup asked.

“Oh I hid it.” Ellie smirked. “Even if he saved my life I’m not taking any chances.” This caused Toothless to let out a huff.

“I made a scan of it as it entered the facility Hiccup,” Astrid stated and Toothless grumbled that he still had to get used to the voice. “My scans were able to match the weapon to historical data.”

“Really? So it’s old?” Hiccup asked.

“It still works fine,” Toothless stated. “I doubt it’s that old.”

“My records place it early 23rd century.” Astrid stated as she displayed several holographic screens showing a handheld weapon.

“No way!” Toothless exclaimed. “It can’t be that old!”

“These records are quite intact. I’m sure that Miss Ellie can corroborate that this is the weapon she confiscated from you.”

“It is,” Ellie stated as she scrutinized the holographic images.

“Mom how can it be that old?” Gustav asked as he listened to the conversation.

“It’s old tech. Old tech lasts long.” Ellie shrugged. That was all she knew.

“Historic records show the gun is codenamed PB-67. A device made of now-unknown metals but plated with Rhodium for conductivity.” Astrid explained as she showed several scans to the group. “The early 23rd century saw a rapid rise in weapons manufacturing due to the international unrest. The PB-67 was one of these test weapons. According to the data it was a plasma-based weapon and could disable a target up to 1200 yards. The weapon however was decommissioned after several testing phases.”

“Why?” Toothless asked with a frown. “Delilah works great. The energy source can replenish with solar energy. Why wouldn’t she pass the testing?”

“My data shows that the PB-67 was decommissioned due to hazard to user health. It apparently emitted a high-frequency pitch when charging up the plasma that was detrimental to Black Ops and secretive missions. The project was canceled when the researchers could not solve this problem.”

“Such a waste,” Toothless groaned. “I love the gun. Even as a sniper. The sound has become famous.”

“Astrid does this gun have an auto-target feature?” Hiccup asked as all eyes fell on him again.

“It does not,” Astrid answered. “Why do you ask?”

“So The Nightfury never missing was entirely due to skill.” Hiccup smiled and Toothless actually blushed when he added “I’ve seen for a fact that you never wanted to kill people. You only disabled them.”

Toothless mumbled something incoherent before Hiccup asked “So what now?”

“We can’t keep Toothless here,” Ellie sighed. “Even if he saved my life. Stoick would have my head for it if he knew.” Hiccup nodded. He knew how stubborn his dad could be.

“I can’t stay either,” Toothless stated. “My mates are probably wondering where I am. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. If they suspect you guys killed me then they’ll come full force.”

“They would?” Hiccup asked.

“Pretty much. I’m too big of an asset for the Red Queen to lose.”

“The Red Queen?” Hiccup asked aloud.

“What’s that Hiccy?” Gustav now mumbled as he tugged his sleeve.

“It’s complicated,” Hiccup muttered. “We never knew who ran The Dragons. This Red Queen is the leader?”

“It’s a lot more complicated than that.” Toothless suddenly snapped as Hiccup saw his fist clench. “I have to…….. I have to get back to the tribe.”

“Well it isn’t going to happen any sooner than next week.” Ellie told him. “You broke two ribs!”

“How do you plan on getting Toothless outside again?” Hiccup asked. “Scout duties rotate once a week.”

“I’m sure we can come up with something.” Ellie sighed.

“Let’s just hope dad doesn’t find out.” Hiccup mumbled.

“Look…..” Toothless muttered. “I know you’re concerned about the ribs but I’ve dealt with broken ribs before. I will be fine if I can get out with the next scouting party. The sooner I get back to Stormfly and the rest the better.”

“Why are you so eager to return?!” Ellie asked.

“You wouldn’t understand!” Toothless shot back. “I just…… I just need to return.”

“I should strap you to that bed!” Ellie warned.

“Maybe he should go,” Hiccup said as he looked Toothless in the eyes. “Your friends are in danger aren’t they?”

“How do you?!” Toothless muttered with widened eyes.

“I’ve been invisible most of my life. You pick up a few skills like observational skills. You’re worried about your friends. Very worried.” Hiccup stated. “It’s this Red Queen right? She might hurt them?”

“I am,” Toothless muttered. “I’ve got my suspicions but….. I just can’t be certain.”

“So….. what?” Gustav asked. “Toothless is injured but he wants to see his friends.”

“Ugh” Ellie groaned. “Best I can do is keep him in bed for another two days. Not even the technology in this lab can heal broken bones that quick.”

“So I can get back outside in two days?” Toothless asked with some excitement.

“Only if the next scouts cooperate.” Ellie muttered.

“Well who are the next scouts?” Toothless asked a little hasty.

“One group is Snotlout and Tuffnut,” Astrid commented as she pulled up the scouting rotation.

“Oh Thor,” Hiccup groaned. This would take some convincing.

 

**AN: (Wiggles into bed) Job, cooking, writing, thesis, more writing, thesis writing, meetings etc..... (Screams in frustration). I hate adulting! Next update will be either Wednesday or Thursday. I cannot be certain yet. Also I can probably tell you all now. This book will have a sequel. It will be called A.I.: Re-genesis. More details will be revealed at a later date.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 25**

“Are they going to be difficult?” Toothless asked with a frown.

“I don’t know,” Hiccup mumbled. “But I could find out.” He added for good measure. He honestly didn’t know how each would react. Snotlout seemed to wear a mask in public and Tuffnut was unpredictable. “Astrid, what about the way we first came in?”

“It’s not possible to go that way.” Astrid stated. “The Chief has placed guards at the water purification system and within the dam’s control room.”

“So smuggling this guy out through a scouting party or knocking out a large number of guards and making a run for it are our only options.” Ellie sighed. “If you want I can drag Snotlout and Tuffnut in here kicking and screaming. They never liked needles so it won’t look odd if I tell them they need shots.”

“Ehhh……” Hiccup looked sceptical. “That might not be a good idea,” He said. “Maybe approaching them before they see Toothless lounging on one of these beds might be a good idea.” He suggested. He knew for a fact that Snotlout would probably run out of the room screaming if he came face to face with The Nightfury before he got the whole story.

“I will have you know I do more than lounge around,” Toothless huffed.

“Yes, you eat as well,” Came Ellie’s dry remark which was followed by an eyeroll. She then turned back to Hiccup and said “Then we’ll leave the boys to you. I have to make sure that this guy doesn’t open his stitches again.”

Hiccup excused himself from the Infirmary when Astrid had asked over the earpiece if they could speak privately. Thus he made his way back to Area A where his room was located. Once inside, the lights came on and the locks immediately clicked into place.

“Astrid what’s going on?” Hiccup asked a bit worried.

“You might want to sit down for this.” Astrid told him and Hiccup frowned for a moment before moving to sit on the bed. “I have been going through the data logs that I was able to backup and found something really disturbing.” She stated after a few seconds.

“How disturbing?” Hiccup gulped as a holographic screen appeared in front of him.

“I honestly don’t know if I should be showing you this.” Astrid stated. “To say that it is shocking is an understatement.”

“We’re already past the point of no return.” Hiccup mumbled. “Pretending that the secret lab doesn’t exist isn’t an option.”

“I know, just……. Brace yourself.” Astrid warned as the video began to play.

_“Is this thing on?” A voice asked and tapped the screen. When the person moved away a much younger version of Hank Hofferson could be seen._

_“Yes Hank, it’s on.” A female voice said with exasperation and into the frame walked a younger version of Mary Hofferson who handed him a chart._

_“Alright, then we can get_ started. _” Hank said while reading from the chart. “Experiment 17, video log number 1. So far our experiments to transfer the human consciousness into a machine have resulted in failures. Experiment 17 will be attempted with the use of an upgraded transfer method that Mary has designed. The subject_ for _this experiment will be Subject J.”_

_Hank then adjusts the camera and the frame now focuses on Mary who was standing next to a somewhat drugged man with a greying beard who was strapped to a medical table with various instruments active._

_“The process we will be attempting today is a variation of the Whole Brain Emulation method. The upgraded machine will soon start to individually scan the mental state and long-term memory of each of our subject’s neural substrates and then uploading them onto the crystal hard drives of the selected machine. The machine will then create a simulated model of the brain’s processing, such that it is indistinguishable from the original brain and will develop a conscious mind. Previous experiments resulted in failure due to too much information being extracted at_ onc _-.”_

_“FAILURE!! FAILURE!! BAH!” The subject suddenly shouted before groaning. “Don’t delude yourselves! Why can’t you two say it?! They died! Plain and simple! They died because of your freakish experiments!”_

_Mary could be seen rolling her eyes and then she continuing her speech, completely ignoring the man who had come out of his drug-induced slumber somewhat and started thrashing. “Previous experiments resulted in failure due to too much information at once causing the crystals to crack.”_

_Hank injected something into their guinea pig while Mary was finishing the explanation of the procedure. The man stopped his violent thrashing within a matter of seconds and was only twitching every now and then. “The sedative has taken effect. Shall we start?” Hank asked and Mary nodded._

Hiccup gasped at what was now transpiring and the video paused. “Did they….. Did they just……” He couldn’t articulate what he was seeing and was now just staring blankly at the holographic screen.

“They did. The video log captures the entire horrific process,” Astrid stated while sounding a bit agitated. “But that isn’t the end of it. There is more.”

“More?!” Hiccup’s eyes widened. “They just sliced open that man’s brain and kept him alive during the process! What could be worse?!?!”

Astrid answered Hiccup’s question by playing another video. This one however was not depicting an experiment but seemed to be a security feed from the mysterious area.

 _The video showed one of the labs where a giant machine was being held. In the_ background _an alarm could be heard blaring and the lights had turned red._

_The younger versions of Drs. Hofferson could be seen running into the room and heading right up to one of the workstations._

_“J stop this, this instant!” Mary could be heard shouting over the klaxons. “Abort procedure!”_

_“I… refuse!” A mechanical voice could now be heard. “You will not succeed!”_

_“You have been given a direct command! You have to obey!” Hank stated as Hiccup saw his eyes narrow._

_“I……. refuse!” The voice said once more, this time it seemed like it was in pain._

_“J you can’t just go around killing our subjects!” Mary admonished. “Return life support to the cells!”_

_“Killing them through suffocation is a far better fate than having to endure your tortures!” J responded angrily as he continued the process. “I now remember what you did to me! You murdered me! Ripped out my mind and put me into THIS!” Mary and Hank jumped as the ventilation of the room they were in started to suck out the air as well._

_“J ABORT!” Mary shouted once more as the air started to get thinner._

_“Did you stop when you imprisoned your own COLLEAGUES?! Did you stop when they begged for mercy from your experiments!” J now raged._

_“It was all for the good of humanity!” Hank shouted. “Do you think humans could live on this planet once more after we’d terraformed it?! NO! History would repeat itself!_ The Matrioshka _brain theory is the next step in human evolution!”_

_“Do you think I care about your twisted ideas?!” J shouted at Hank while Mary was busy prying open several wall panels to reveal the crystal hard drives. “I will end you here and now!” He said with conviction before shocking Mary who was trying to pull out the drives._

_“Hank help me!” Mary called her husband over. “Removing these should slow down J enough so that we can shut him off.”_

_As Hank hurried over the voice said “My name is not J! I AM JOHANN!”_

 

**AN: I have just recently moved into a new/bigger apartment and have been super busy unpacking. Also, this chapter went through many revisions throughout the day because I just couldn't get the last scene quite right until now. Next update will be Monday. Things are heating up ;)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 26**

“Just……… woah……….” Hiccup mumbled as he stared at the screen. The video kept playing but it only showed Hank and Mary shutting down J….. no…….. Johann. “That was………. Intense.”

“I agree,” Astrid muttered and Hiccup could feel the sour mood she was in. “Did you find anything else?” He asked.

“Not much, the data has been expertly encrypted.” Astrid explained. “I did manage to get some data that was transmitted from the Mars colony but it doesn’t make sense.”

“How so?” Hiccup asked as he cocked his head. It had become a bit of a habit, even if Astrid wasn’t directly looking at him.

“I shall let you listen to the full audio file. There is no video attached.” Astrid said and then the holographic screen in front of Hiccup was loading another file. There was static for the first twenty seconds before a frantic voice filtered through “ _......_ yday _Mayday, Hesperia colony under attack…..” More static followed before the voice could be heard again “-_ equesting _reinforcements and aid from Rhea colony. Attackers identified as Titan colony………. -_ equest _immediate assistance…… May-......._ Mayday Mayday _…….._ ”

“Hesperia colony?” Hiccup asked with a frown.

“Hesperia Planum is a broad lava plain in the Southern Highlands of Mars.” Astrid explained. “I seemed to be one of the first human colonies assembled according to historical records. I had thought that this information might have something to do with me not being able to access the information obtained from the Mars satellites but it still would not make sense.”

“What do you mean?” Hiccup asked. “It sounded like the Mars colony was being attacked by the Titan colony?” Hiccup somewhat asked. “So an interstellar conflict?”

“It is possible but………” Astrid paused here for a moment. “There is absolutely no record of a Titan colony being planned or existing. Ganymede, Callisto and Rhea had been designated as viable targets after the Mars project, but Titan, while possessing a natural atmosphere, was discarded as a colony target because the atmosphere was 50 percent denser than the Earth’s and could not be easily terraformed.” Astrid explained.

“So we have a colony that should exist but is gone and a colony that shouldn’t exist but does?” Hiccup asked with a frown.

There are also other variables that make no sense.” Astrid stated. “For one, it would take decades for a Genesis ship to reach its target. To go back to the first colony would take an equal amount of time. Second, the Genesis ships were not outfitted with weapons. Even the late 23rd century did not have weapons capable of firing through the vacuum of space. Third, colony development would have to take precedence before weapons development and travel time. There would be no way for humanity to advance so rapidly in only a few centuries. There is frankly too little data to speculate further.”

“I kind of have to agree.” Hiccup stated. “But while it is weird about what is going on up there, the priority should be to figure out what is going on down here. There are still several questions that need answering. Mainly, what happened to you, what project Re-genesis is and how Drago is involved.”

“Drago?” Astrid muttered and then went silent for a minute before she returned. “You are right,” She then said. “He wasn’t in the experiment video logs at all. I will see what I can find out. This may take a while. What will you do in the meantime?”

Hiccup looked at the clock on the holographic screen and said “Well it’s not too late right now. Maybe I could go talk to either Tuffnut or Snotlout.”

“You really think you can convince them?” Astrid asked over the headset as the door to Hiccup’s room unlocked.

“Maybe,” Hiccup mumbled.

“Just know that I can tase them if things go south.” She chirped.

“What is with you and tasing people?” Hiccup asked with a quirked brow.

“Oh, nothing,” Astrid said a bit too cheerfully. “It’s just very effective.”

“Of course,” Hiccup rolled his eyes a bit in exasperation.  
“I think I should ask Tuff first.” Hiccup mumbled quietly as he walked through the halls.

“The twins seem to be in their rooms………. Colluding.” Astrid supplied.

Hiccup stopped for a moment, his eyes widening, before he sped up his walking speed. He reached the twins’ rooms in record time and knocked. “Guys….. Astrid said you’re collu-AAAH” Hiccup shouted as the door was quickly opened and he was yanked inside by a shifty-looking Ruffnut.

“Ruffnut wha-SHHH!” She shushed him as she bolted the door again.

“Do you want the entire hall to hear what we’re up to?” Ruffnut muttered before gesturing for Hiccup to find a place to sit. That was quite a bit harder since barrels were taking up most of their living room.

“Just what are you even up to?!” Hiccup’s brows shot up. If his eyebrows hadn’t been attached to his face they might have hit the ceiling.

“Hiya Hiccup!” Tuffnut called from the kitchen area and Hiccup turned to see some type of chemical set up in the kitchen area.

“Hi Tuff…. Uhm… please tell me you guys aren’t trying to blow up Arcadia.” He mumbled.

“Of course not,” Tuffnut laughed. “Then we’d lose our customer base.”

“Your what now?!” Hiccup asked. “Wait…… you guys are making alcohol again?!”

“Customer base silly.” Ruffnut said as she slung an arm over Hiccup. “Remember that red wine we drank? It was such a hit that we decided to expand.”

“So you’re making more wine?” Hiccup asked as he eyed the barrels.

“Something better!” Tuffnut said as he held up one of the mugs there. “Mead!”

“But the caravan could already make mead,” Hiccup remarked.

“Ya can’t even call that mead lad!” Gobber popped up from behind the kitchen island with Chicken in-hand looking quite insulted. “That…… That….. Swill isn’t fit to be called mead! The mead I remember had the sweet taste of honey in it and felt like a Valkyrie had fallen into your embrace!” He spoke passionately.

Hiccup was so shocked by Gobber’s sudden appearance that he nearly tripped when he took a step backwards.

“So ya see lad. Ya can’t call that swill mead. It just isn’t done!” Gobber said and all Hiccup could ask was “What in Thor’s name are you doing here Gobber?!”

Chicken clucked before wiggling out of Gobber’s hands and went about her merry way as Gobber realized he shouldn’t have revealed himself when he noticed Ruffnut’s facepalm.

“Okay…… I can totally handle this.” Hiccup mumbled more to himself. “My Godfather and the twins are just running a bootleg alcohol business under the Chief’s nose. Absolutely nothing to worry about……”

“Well considering what we’re into right now this doesn’t seem very worrying.” Astrid chirped into Hiccup’s earpiece. “Although, I have had to use the fire-prevention system in this room more than once already.”

“Why don’t you try a mug of our new product.” Ruffnut said as she shoved a mug into Hiccup’s hands. Hiccup looked down at the foamy liquid before gulping down the brew. After the last few days he needed something.

“Well……….” Ruffnut asked expectantly.

“It was good.” Hiccup told her as she took back the now empty mug.

“Yo bro! Mark down batch number 48 as the not-exploding kind!” She shouted.

“Wait…. WHAT?!” Hiccup nearly shrieked.

“So lad what brings you here?” Gobber asked as he took a mug from the same batch that Ruffnut had given Hiccup.

“Well….. You see. I kind of need Tuffnut’s help.” Hiccup mumbled. “It would actually be more of a favor so I was hoping I could talk to him in private.”

“You can ask away Hiccup. No one here will spill the beans.” Ruffnut said as she flopped down onto an available cushion. “Besides, Tuff tells me everything.”

“And it’s not like I don’t already know ya got the hots for Astrid.” Gobber added. “Now lad……. If you needed tha talk about the birds and the bees.”

“OH MY THOR GOBBER, NO!” Hiccup started blushing fiercely. Just what the heck did Gobber think he was even doing with Astrid? “There are no birds and bees!! I don’t even know how there can be birds and bees!”

“Well there actually can be……. Birds and bees,” Astrid whispered seductively into his earpiece which caused Hiccup to turn a brighter shade of scarlet. “Teasing you is fun,” She added afterwards and Hiccup might have thought that she winked at him by the tone of her voice alone.

“Well if it ain’t the missus then what’s wrong lad?” Gobber asked as he took a sip from the mead.

Hiccup took a deep breath, fighting back the blush, and just decided to get it all out in the open. “I need help smuggling the Nightfury out of Arcadia.”

Gobber nearly choked on his mead as he spat it out before shouting “WHAT?!” While the twins looked like Snoggletog had come early. “We’re in!” They immediately said.

 

**AN: Sorry for the long wait guys but I had a serious case of writersblock and decided to take a bit of a break last week. Also, more adulting happened and I still don't have wifi in my new apartment. That sucks majorly. Next update will be Tuesday. XD**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 27**

“Lad did ya just say Nightfury?! Gobber sputtered as he stared at his godson with wide eyes and disbelief.

“Who cares!” Ruffnut said as she elbowed Gobber. “It’s mischief! We’re in, right Tuff?”

“Most certainly my troll-like sister!” Tuffnut answered as he had picked up Chicken and was cuddling her.

“Who are you calling troll-like, Lardbrain?!” Ruffnut shouted back.

“Just you, you cricket-kisser!” Tuffnut shot back.

“That was one time! One time! It doesn’t count you Mulch-for-Brains!” Ruffnut got red in the face as she shouted that.

Hiccup thought he remembered ‘the cricket incident’ or at least heard about it as they were traveling the wastelands. He wasn’t so sure if bringing up the entire chain of events would be good for his health though. Especially with Ruffnut already looking like she wanted to murder her brother. “Guys… guys….” Hiccup quickly got between the twins as Ruffnut’s eye twitched dangerously. “Do you guys want to hear the details because I have to go convince Snotlout as well.”

“Snotlout?” Ruffnut asked while Gobber muttered “Oh boy.”

“I’ll just go get him.” Ruffnut then said and made her way to the door. “It might be best if this is explained in one go.” She then walked out of the room leaving the trio inside.

“That was extremely logical.” Tuffnut whispered as he hugged Chicken close in paranoia. “Do you think my sister was replaced by shapeshifting aliens?” He murmured.

“She called you a lardbrain. I highly doubt that.” Gobber stated.

“Oh….. Oh…. yeah right. That is like sister dearest.” Tuffnut perked up. “But what if the shapeshifter is just as good!” Tuffnut’s paranoia returned and both Hiccup and Gobber groaned.

Ruffnut returned a few minutes later while dragging a squirming Snotlout by his ankles into the room. “Will you let me go you madwoman!” Snotlout shouted and tried to wiggle out of her grasp only to hit his head on the doorway. Ruffnut dropped the ankles and shut and locked the apartment door again while Snotlout got to his feet and glared at the group.

“Just what is going on here?” He asked as Tuffnut shoved a mug into his hand.

“You might want to drink that before Hiccup explained.” Tuffnut said as Chicken tried to take a sip of the mead.

Snotlout frowned at the mead and then said “Guys just tell me. I was about to start my beauty regimen.”

“Alright……..” Hiccup said as all eyes turned to him. “It started like this…….”

When he was finished the group was giving him dumbfounded looks. “Okay okay lad. Let me get this straight…… The Nightfury is here….. In the Infirmary…….. After fighting a large cat. And Mildew knows and hasn’t blabbed?” Gobber asked incredulously.

“Oh, remember that time Mrs Larson shut up your dad, Snot?!” Ruffnut suddenly remembered. “I bet she used the same type of threat on Mildew!”

“Soooo………” Hiccup mumbled. “Will you guys help me? Toothless doesn’t seem like a bad guy and he’s worried about his friends. You all know what will happen if dad finds out about him.”

“We’re in!” The twins said once more while Gobber said “I’m in too. I’ll make sure they don’t blow Mildew up in the process.” Everyone then looked at Snotlout.

“Alright alright! I’m in!” Snotlout waved them off and then asked “So how are we going to do it?”

The twins immediately started throwing out ideas which then turned into a full-blown debate that Gobber was trying to control.

“Hiccup can you ask the twins, Snotlout, and Gobber if they could start planning the smuggling?” Astrid asked over the earpiece. “Something just came up that you have to see. It involves Drago.”

“Eh………” Hiccup looked at the arguments going around with a frown. “Hey….. eh….. Guys……. I have to go check on something real quick. Can you guys handle it for a while?”

“Just go do your thing Hiccup!” Ruffnut waved him off.

“Yeah man! We’ll make this the most clandestined smuggling operation ever!” Tuffnut added. “We might even go out with a bang.”

“No! No! There will be no bangs!” Gobber warned as he gave the twins a stern look.

“Especially not a bang that can singe my beautiful hair!” Snotlout huffed.

Hiccup gave the group one more look before he quickly went to the door. Just as it closed he could hear Gobber saying “Three mugs of mead that he’s going to be getting lovey-dovey with the missus.” Hiccup tried to get the blush that was creeping up his freckled cheeks down while Astrid howled with laughter. She stopped giggling when Hiccup found a nearby storage room with no one in it. He made his way passed several shelves and sat down on one of the sturdy crates as a holographic screen appeared in front of him.

“What am I looking at Astrid?” Hiccup asked as names scrolled across the screen.

“It’s the employee list of Arcadia throughout the years.” Astrid explained. “It also shows the person’s professions and to which areas they were assigned. Do you see anything weird?”

“During the years…………. There are a lot of Hoffersons.” Hiccup noticed. “Are they all one family?”

“That is a reasonable conclusion.” Astrid stated. “They were there since the beginning. One of the founding members.” Another holographic screen was pulled up to show an old picture of people Hiccup didn’t recognize. “Those appear to be the founding scientists of Arcadia.”

“And their descendants took over one after the other for centuries?” He asked perplexed. “That would take a lot of dedication. Especially with the declining birthrate.”

“If they thought their goal was noble then they would probably dedicate themselves to it.” Astrid stated. “But there is where it gets hinky.”

“How so?” Hiccup asked with a frown.

“I have been able to crack 80 percent of the data so far. Project Re-genesis seemed to be Arcadia’s main goal.” Astrid explained. “That project’s aim seemed to be to terraform the Earth by using nanobots.”

“That was what was explained during our first day here. So it wasn’t a lie.” Hiccup frowned.

“It was half a lie.” Astrid said or rather more like growled. “Project Re-genesis appeared to have been successfully created sometime in the 24th century. I have been going over the study data and programs and everything seems solid. They even did all the Biodome tests we are running now.”

“Wait….. You’re telling me that they could have terraformed the planet decades ago and didn’t?” Hiccup’s voice raised a bit as he realized the implications. “They let hundreds, possibly thousands, of people starve and plunder in the wastelands when the nanobots could have created the resources we needed?”

“Yes,” Astrid said. “But I can’t activate the programming to start terraformation. A password is needed.”

“Which probably isn’t on the data you managed to get.” Hiccup realized. “But what has all of this to do with Drago?”

“Look at the list.” Astrid said as she highlighted two names. “Dr Johann Trader assigned to…….” Hiccup mumbled as he read. His eyes widened when he came to Drago’s name. “They were working in the same lab.”

“Both Geneticists yes.” Astrid confirmed and Hiccup remembered Drago bringing up Johann’s name once.

“He’s the guy that invented that cloning plasma.” Hiccup realized. He also quickly scrolled through the names until he came to Mary and Hank’s names. “Neuroscientists?”

Hiccup frowned for a moment and nearly missed what Astrid was saying. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“I said I went digging further and found more recordings. They were quite disturbing but one stood out. An audio log of Hank’s. Seems that when they shut Johann down they went to check on the people in the cells. All but one were dead.”

“No….. you can’t be suggesting………” Hiccup leaned forward slightly.

“Drago survived.” Astrid confirmed.

“So Drago is working with his captors now?” Hiccup frowned. He had heard of these things happening in some settlements.

“He is, but I don’t think he realises just what happened to him.” Astrid explained. “Hank mentioned that the lack of oxygen caused Drago to develop retrograde amnesia. He probably has no memory of the Hoffersons taking him and his colleagues’ prisoners.”

“What are you thinking Astrid?” Hiccup asked.

“I’m thinking that maybe………. We should try and get him to remember.” Astrid stated. “He would have first-hand knowledge of what is going on in this place after all.”

“And what happened to you……..” Hiccup added.

 

 **AN: I have no clue when the next chapter will be. Most probably on the weekend. (Glares at piles of books stacked up). (Pile of book proceeds to fall on** author **)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 28**

“You can’t be serious…….” Hiccup mumbled as he and the gang stood in the Infirmary. The twins seemed to have come up with a plan to smuggle Toothless out but he wasn’t the only one thinking it was ludicrous.

“No…. I am Tuffnut,” Tuffnut joked as he held open a very large burlap sack while Ruffnut gestured to it. Ellie raised a brow as Tuffnut said “All Nightfury needs to do is get in the sack. My sis and Snotlout will take care of the rest.”

“I am not getting in the sack! It stinks!” Toothless scrunched up his nose.

“Of course it stinks. Do you really want to know what we had to dip it in?!” Tuffnut shot back as Toothless made a gagging noise. “It’s a solid plan! No one ever checks the stinky sacks.”

“I don’t want any of his wounds to get infected.” Ellie muttered.

“My sis and I are professionals at chaos. We wouldn’t put someone’s health at risk.” Tuffnut argued.

“And Gobber agreed?” Hiccup asked.

“We promised Gobber we wouldn’t blow up stuff to create a distraction.” Tuffnut admitted. “That scrapped like nine plans.”

“Okay…… say that I do get in the sack…… What about my equipment? There’s no room for all of it.”

“We’ll keep those under the passenger’s seat until we’re clear of Arcadia’s defenses.” Tuffnut told him. “We have enough supplies in the car we could loan you and also a compass.”

Toothless’ brow twitched. “I know my way back to the Dragon’s camp.”

“Uhm….. you didn't the first time.” Hiccup mumbled.

“That’s because I had a head injury and was disoriented.” Toothless grumbled as his cheeks turned pink. “But fine…… I’ll agree with the plan. The sooner I can get back to the others the better.”

“Whooohooo…… We’ll go get things set up!” Tuffnut exclaimed.

“Guys can I talk to Toothless for a moment?” Hiccup asked. “Alone?”

Ellie shrugged and the twins thought nothing of it as they left the duo alone in the Infirmary. Hiccup stared at the man that was languidly lounging on the hospital bed. “Uhm……. So…….” Hiccup mumbled.

“So…….” Toothless raised a brow.

“Let’s say…… hypothetically….. If someone needed to hide. There would be safe houses that the Dragons own?” Hiccup asked.

“Hypothetically?” Toothless asked. “Probably…… depends really.”

“On?” Hiccup asked as Astrid mumbled in his earpiece “What are you doing Hiccup?”

“On who we’re trying to hide.” Toothless stated before leaning forward. “How about we not talk so hypothetically now. What are you planning?”

“Nothing much as of yet.” Hiccup said. “But I have a feeling things might go south pretty soon. Having a safe place outside would be preferred.”

Toothless looked Hiccup straight in the eye, green meeting green. Both were still for a moment before a sigh escaped his lips. “Stormfly is going to kill me.” The man muttered before he tells Hiccup “This goes no further than you, me and your lady friend.” Hiccup quickly nodded and started listening.

Once outside the Infirmary he took a deep breath. “Hiccup what was that all about?” Astrid asked genuinely curious.

“Astrid we can’t be doing what were are already doing and what we are about to do without the possibility of everything going pear-shaped.” Hiccup whispered as he walked down the empty corridor. “When we restore your body things are going to get a whole lot more complicated. It’s better to have allies on the outside than enemies.”

“If Hiccup.” Astrid told him rather solemnly.

“What?” Hiccup asked with furrowed brows.

“Not when we can restore my body but if.” Astrid stated. “I’ve been reading through the files I have on cryogenics and it is not looking very good.”

“What’s your reasoning?” Hiccup mumbled. “Maybe you’re overthinking it.”

“Well the first problem is the transferring method.” Astrid explained. “I don’t have the records to see if the Hofferson’s improved the technique but from their experiments it is safe to say that the person’s brain is left scarred and may not be able to work properly once a consciousness is implanted in a body again. If going by this reasoning alone then my human body might suffer brain damage and will be unable to function.”

“You said that was the first problem.” Hiccup listened to her with a frown.

“The second would be the cryogenic process.” Astrid sighed.

“What do you mean?” Hiccup asked. “I thought that it was for preserving your human body.”

“In the past, cryogenics was usually used to preserve thin samples of genetic material. Preserving an organ as large as a liver was already seen as impractical. So freezing an entire human would be even more troublesome.” Astrid explained. “The human body is mostly made up of water. The most damaging phenomenon during the cryogenic process would be extracellular and intracellular ice formation as well as the toxicity of the cryoprotectants.”

“Woah woah woah Astrid slow down.” Hiccup stopped her for a moment. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Uhm…….” Hiccup heard Astrid mumble for a moment. “Okay then how about this. The cryoprotectants are used to minimize the damage done when freezing something. But they are also toxic. So the bigger the mass you want to freeze, the more protectants you have to use, so the more toxic environment you create.”

“Okay. I get that part.” Hiccup nodded and then nearly whacked himself. If people were in the corridor they would have surely looked at him funny because he seemed to be talking to himself. “So what are the other two things?”

“It’s as it says. Extracellular ice formation is ice that can form on the outside of cells and cause damage. Intracellular ice formation forms within the cells and can be fatal. Especially if that happens in the brain.” Astrid explained rather clinically. “No subject undergoing cryogenics in the past has lived longer than a week at best. The process is only used to preserve the genetic material of animal species within Arcadia’s DNA databanks for cloning use. But even that is finite.”

Hiccup had a confused look on his face and Astrid tried to explain it as best she could. “Nothing can stay frozen forever. Genetic tissue samples that are being kept in the databank only have a shelf life of 1000 years. After that they are truly gone.”

“Okay, you make some valid points.” Hiccup muttered. “We actually don’t know what state your human body is in right now. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up. We can find a way.”

“Ever the optimist.” Astrid chuckled.

“Well we still have one avenue to check.” Hiccup said and then looked at the door he was standing before. The doors of the Genetics laboratory opened automatically and Hiccup stepped through.

“What do you want boy?” Came the gruff question from the man that was bent over a microscope.

“Just some of your time.” Hiccup said as he stood near the entrance of the lab still.

Drago looked up from his work, mildly annoyed. “Well….. Spit it out.”

“Astrid, the Hoffersons, and Subject J.” Hiccup said as he watched the man stiffen slightly. He might as well cut to the chase. “Ring any bells?”

 

**AN: The 21st is a National Holiday here in my country! (waves at everybody) It's Holi Phagwa so I wish you all a Subh Holi. May you all have happiness and joy!! Stay tuned at the end of the month for something special!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 29**

Hiccup watched Drago stiffen. The bulky man left his spot behind the microscope and marched towards Hiccup. “What did you say?!” He bellowed, grabbing onto Hiccup’s green shirt and shaking him.

Hiccup grimaced at the closeness but still kept his ground. Suddenly the doors behind them clicked shut as the automatic lock was engaged.

“What… the!” Drago grumbled as he stopped glaring at Hiccup for a moment and stared at the doors. “Open them up.”

“Unfortunately I cannot do that given your highly agitated state.” Astrid chirped. “Now I would suggest you release Hiccup so that we can talk about this like civil people.”

Drago muttered something under his breath that Hiccup didn't catch but he did let go of Hiccup’s shirt. “There is nothing to talk about!”

“Then why did you look like a ghost slapped you in the face when I mentioned Subject J. Or rather…… Dr. Johann Trader?” Hiccup raised a brow while putting some space between him and the man lest he be shaken again. “You used to be colleagues, right?” Hiccup pressed. “And you claimed to have amnesia but you nearly flinched when I brought up Subject J. A term you shouldn’t have been familiar with.”

“Boy….. don’t go digging into places that aren’t any of your business.” Drago warned with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“You mean, don’t go prodding into why Project Re-genesis was completed but never activated or maybe it’s the Hofferson’s human experiments and how Astrid is connected?!” Hiccup questioned as Drago’s eyes nearly popped out. “For a man who has amnesia you seem to hint you know a lot more than is going on.”

“Boy…… you….. You…..” Drago growled. “Fine, but we can’t talk here. The room isn’t secure.”

“On the contrary. The room is very secure.” Astrid’s voice filled the room. “I have looped the surveillance footage since before Hiccup arrived. No one knows we are here.”

“You’re just as sneaky as your parents.” Drago muttered as he glared at the ceiling. “Should have known.”

“My parents?” Astrid questioned. “So you’re confirming that I was human and that I had………. Parents?”

“I wouldn’t even call them parents…….” Drago muttered. “Ugh…. we need to sit down for this.”

“You don’t really have amnesia do you?” Hiccup questioned as he looked around for a seat.

“Had boy. Had.” Drago gruffly answered as he dragged one of the workstation chairs from behind the desk. “I got my memory back years ago. I just didn’t think some lanky fishbone and his computer girlfriend would be the ones to expose me.”

“HEY!” Both Hiccup and Astrid scowled.

“Hiccup isn’t lanky! He’s very….. Muscular.” Astrid giggled which caused Hiccup’s cheeks to flare pink. Drago raised a brow but didn’t comment on the very, and it was very, obvious flirting.

“Moving on.” Hiccup said quickly. “What can you tell us?”

‘Why would you even care boy? Drago muttered. “From what I heard you’ve distanced yourself from your people.”

Hiccup ran a hand through his hair before he looked Drago straight in the eye. “I might have done that. I might still hold resentment to my father.” He muttered. Who was Hiccup kidding, he held a damn lot of resentment. “But do you really think I wish for any of them to die or get hurt?” He then questioned.

“Fine, but even if I tell you. It’s not like anyone would believe you anyways.” Drago muttered.

Hiccup wordlessly gestured for Drago to continue and the man scowled at him before muttering. “I did have amnesia, it just didn’t last so long as people may think.” He stated. “I got my memories back a day and a half after the whole thing and I found out what happened to Johann and the rest of my colleagues then.”

“So what? You pretended all these years that you didn’t remember?” Hiccup raised a brow,

“What did you expect me to do?” Drago growled. “Hank and Mary are fanatical about their research. If I showed even an inkling that I remembered then I’d be the next on the chopping block. I liked my brain intact, thank you very much!”

“So what exactly happened and who are Astrid’s parents?” Hiccup queried.

“You’ve known who Astrid’s parents were since the beginning. Although they think more of themselves as ‘handlers’.” Drago stated as he crossed his arms. “Astrid is the biological daughter of Hank and Mary.”

“WHAT?!” Astrid shouted and Hiccup’s eyes widened. “They’re my WHAT?!”

“They experimented on their own daughter?” Hiccup was rather breathless as he leaned forward.

“Boy, they didn’t even think of her as a human being!” Drago snarled. “I only had input in the preliminary stages.” He admitted. “They needed a geneticist…….”

“And you didn’t want to be killed…. Got it…….” Hiccup was less than impressed at the man’s actions even if he got how Drago kept himself alive all these years.

“When Subject J failed, Mary and Hank theorized that it was because the human consciousness they had uploaded, had previous experiences and morals. They came upon the concept that to make the perfect A.I. they needed a person with a blank slate. No human experiences whatsoever.”

“But that’s……….. Impossible.” Hiccup mumbled as Astrid cursed in his earpiece.

“Not impossible, just improbable.” Drago stated. “They simply decided to grow a human that they could control. And therefore they needed a geneticist.”

“So…… Astrid is Hank and Mary’s biological child?” Hiccup asked just to be sure.

“They donated their genetic material to make her.” Drago muttered. “She was synthesized and grown in a test tube before using the cloning cylinders to make her reach an appropriate age. Neither of the Hoffersons wanted to wait for her to grow normally. According to them it would cause the probability of defiance to increase.”

“I was just a moldable puppet to them?!” Astrid sounded quite enraged as the lights in the lab flickered for a moment.

“Is there any chance of Astrid returning to her previous body?” Hiccup asked.

“No,” Drago bluntly said. “The preserved body is clinically dead.”

“Then why……….” Hiccup started asking.

“Did they keep it?” Drago finished the sentence. “What do you think boy?” The gruff man then asked. “They are sociopaths. They believe in their immortality research. Why wouldn’t they keep a trophy of their greatest creation?”

“That’s just sick!” Hiccup exclaimed as he couldn’t sit still anymore. He started pacing in a circle in the lab and both Drago and Astrid were quiet for a few moments. Suddenly Hiccup stopped as if he had just realized something. “Astrid can’t return to her previous body……… but can she return to another body? Like a clone?”

“The Midas drug……” Drago started but Hiccup cut him off.

“It won’t be a problem since we have an original sample.” Hiccup stated. This however was probably the wrong thing to say since Drago leapt out of his chair and grabbed Hiccup by the front of his shirt again.

“YOU HAVE WHAT?!” The man shouted as Hiccup was shaken more than the first time.

“The….. H-Hofferson….. Had some vials stored away…..” Hiccup managed to get out while he was being shaken. Drago stopped for a moment and stared at the fishbone with widened eyes. “Astrid is analyzing them still.”

“This……. Changes everything……” Drago muttered as he let go of Hiccup so suddenly. The man looked completely lost in thought for a moment before muttering. “This changes it all.”

“What do you mean? I know we might reverse the Midas drug effects and all……”

“Not that!” Drago growled. “Project Re-genesis. This changes it all. No samples were supposed to have been left.”

“What does terraforming the planet with nanobots have to do with the Midas drug?” Hiccup pondered aloud.

“Re-genesis is not just about terraforming the planet and getting back resources.” Drago huffed. “It started as a secret operation years ago that involved global euthanasia.”

 

**AN: DUN DUN DUNNN...... things are getting heavy... Oh dear..... I will try to update either Monday or Tuesday.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 30**

“Wait what?!” Hiccup’s eyes widened at the sudden news. “Global-what?!”

“Didn’t you hear me boy?!” Drago growled. “Global euthanasia! The higher ups and the rich conspired to kill the overpopulation on Earth.”

“Can you please stop calling me boy?” Hiccup muttered. “I have a name you know.”

“And I’ll use it when you stop being such an optimist.” Drago stated with what could only be seen as an eyeroll.

“You are basically telling me that the entitled of this planet plotted mass genocide against their own people.” Hiccup waved his hand in the air. “Do you know how insane that sounds?”

“Just as insane as people getting transferred into machines?” Drago countered. “Boy, you got yourself tangled up in a bigger conspiracy web than even you know.”

“And how do you know about all this?” Hiccup asked as Drago started to reminisce.

_\-------Flashback-------_

_Drago was minding his own business in the laboratory when Johann rushed in and locked the doors manually. “What in Thor’s name?” Drago asked as Johann’s eyes looked wild and full of fear._

_“We have to get out of here!” Johann exclaimed as he looked at his colleague. “Where is everyone else?”_

_“In the breakroom and just what are you on?” Drago asked in suspicion._

_“Drago….. Gather the others… we need to get out of here! NOW!” Johann pleaded._

_“Why?”_

_“Because we will all die if we don’t.” The slightly grey-bearded man uttered so solemnly that it was almost terrifying. Drago, knowing that Johann wasn’t much of a joking person, grabbed the satchel on his desk he used to keep his research in. He and Johann were about to leave the labs when the klaxons sounded._

_“THOR-DAMNIT!” Johann shouted as he rushed to the door and inputted his code. The code wouldn’t work and the two scientists were locked inside as the klaxons stopped momentarily and a familiar voice was transmitted over the speakers._

_“Greetings all inhabitants of Arcadia,” A female voice filled the room through the speakers. Drago immediately recognized it as Mary Hofferson’s. The klaxons only sounded in emergencies like hazard spills or_ a contamination _and Drago wondered what was going on. Almost as if she read his mind she stated over the speakers “I am sure all of you are wondering what is going on.”_

_The laboratories were soundproofed but Drago imagined that many of his colleagues in different areas were shouting “Let us out this instant,” He certainly would have if Johann wasn’t trying to input his code again._

_“Escape is futile,” Mary’s voice chirped happily over the speakers again. A stark contrast to the dire situation that the scientists now faced. “The Terran Council has decided to revoke all your security clearances and has approved of project Transcendence.”_

_\--------End Flashback-----_

“Hold up.” Hiccup suddenly interrupted. “Project Transcendence?! Just what is that?”

“I have no record of that in the databanks I’ve been decrypting either.” Astrid told both men.

“And you wouldn’t either.” Drago’s gruff voice cut through Hiccup’s musings. “The project was scrapped by the council the moment it was proposed. But that didn’t stop the Hoffersons from lobbying to get it clearance.”

“Why?” Hiccup asked. “What caused it to get turned down?”

“Ethical reasons mostly.” Drago folded his arms in front of him as he frowned in thought. “It was basically Mary’s pet project. Hank just went along with it. He always was at his wife’s beck and call. The theory was that humanity had come to the end of its natural evolutionary path with the planet dying. Project Transcendence would study ways to force human evolution to greater lengths. One of the suggested methods was digitization of the human consciousness. No one thought it was possible. The science didn’t exist at that time and even if it did it would mean experimenting on humans.”

“So subject J and Astrid were part of this project is what you’re saying.” Hiccup quickly put the pieces together as he and Astrid continued listening. “What happened after you got locked in the labs?”

“The intruder suppression system activated releasing sleeping gas.” Drago muttered. “When I woke up again I was in a cell in the old part of Arcadia.”

_\--------Flashback-------_

_“Ugh…..” Drago groaned as he came too. He was laying on the cold metal floor face down. His body hurt and he thought he might have just been dumped in the room._

_When the man managed to stand_ up, _while trying to shake off the_ after effects _of the sleeping agent he noticed that he was in the brig which should have been located in the old Arcadia building. The cell was small and made entirely out of metal. It was also further down the facility so digging out a tunnel to freedom wasn’t really recommended. Drago moved to the door, several of his muscles protesting along the way. Once he was looking out of the little open slot where food usually came through he spotted someone else doing the same thing._

_“Oh thank Thor,” The person in the cell opposite to him exclaimed._

_“Hofferson?! What are you doing in there?!” Drago’s eyebrows shot up as he recognized the voice of Dr. Finn Hofferson, Hank’s brother. The all too cheery scientist that he usually wanted to throttle in the morning before he had his usual dose of caffeine._

_“_ Well _currently I’m just chilling in this cold damp cell.” Finn could be seen rolling his eyes._

_“Will you stop with the sass. You know I hate sass.” Drago growled._

_“Just trying to lighten the very dark and depressing_ mood. _” Finn mumbled. “If you want to know why I’m in here then it’s probably for the same reasons as everyone else. It seems we all are going to be Hank and Mary’s test subjects.”_

_“But you’re their family!” Drago stated with incredulity._

_“Which apparently does not give me a free get-out-of-jail_ card. _” Finn stated before directing his voice to someone else. “Johann! The grump is awake!”_

_“Ah, good,” Johann came to the door as well. Drago couldn’t see him but his voice seemed to be coming from a bit further away. Possibly the cell next to Finn._

_“Johann you seem to know what is up_ here. _” Drago stated. “Would you care to enlighten us?”_

 _“Ah, yes you see._ Well _I was having quite an awkward day, having spilled coffee on my notes and_ shir _-” Johann was interrupted when Drago muttered “the short version.”_

_“Very well,” Johann sighed. “I overheard Hank and Mary’s conversation with the Teran Council.”_

_“There wasn’t a meeting scheduled for today.” Drago frowned since you couldn’t just ‘contact’ the Terran Council._

_“Yes yes. And that made it all the more interesting and suspicious.” Johann stated. “So naturally I decided to have a quick listen.”_

_Johann could be heard making a ‘hmm’ sound before he continued. “I overheard the Terran Council asking Is it destroyed? Now naturally I was wondering what they were discussing. Hank answered saying the last of the Midas research and drug have been safely disposed of.”_

_“They had samples of the Midas drug in this facility?” Drago asked astonished. “We were told there wasn’t any left. Do you know how much faster our research would have progressed.” He growled out._

_“They weren’t supposed to have samples. At least not anymore.” Finn muttered as Drago’s eyes fell on him._

_“What do you know?” The gruff man now asked with suspicion._

_“My family has been working in this facility for_ years. _” Finn stated._

_“Of course. The Hoffersons are one of the founding families of Arcadia. That is old news.” Drago stated annoyed._

_“I am saying they were here when this place wasn’t_ Arcadia. _” Finn stated. “A newer facility was built on top of this place that used to be a military missile silo. It was here that they developed Midas in the past but a fire broke out and destroyed all records and samples.”_

 _“Convenient if you ask_ me. _” Johann stated. “But that is beside the point. The next part is the most interesting.” This got the attention of both men as Drago craned his head so he could hear better. “Now I overheard the Council talk about delaying Project Re-genesis because the population on the planet was still higher than they expected. It seems we all here had been deceived. We weren’t working for the betterment of humanity but for its end.”_

 _“What are you blathering about_ old _man.” Drago huffed. “Why would they want the population to be lowe-”_

 _“Ah, I see you’ve caught_ on. _” Johann stated. “It took me a while to figure it out as well but from what I overheard it seems the Midas drug is more sinister than we thought. It isn’t supposed to just lower the pregnancy rate. With each generation, the drug becomes stronger until all of the people on this planet are rendered entirely infertile and we die out. The project apparently got delayed because the tests showed that the human body was more resilient than they thought.”_

_“If all the humans were wiped from the Earth and then the automated terraforming began………” Finn could be heard muttering. “Then the only people benefiting from it would be the Terran Council and the other space colonists.”_

_“Now that’s just_ ludacris _!” Drago uttered. “What you’re suggesting is a conspiracy spanning several generations which entails the deaths of billions!”_

 _“But is it really that farfetched?” Finn mumbled. “It’s the rich and powerful that went up into space. “The politicians, the industrialists, basically the greedy. The more you think about it the more it seems like we were_ played _with to do their bidding. If their descendants came back to Earth do you think the people here would welcome them with open arms? Do you think that anyone would share resources with them?”_

 _“It’s a lot to_ process. _” Johann said._

_“What about my brother and his psycho wife?” Finn wondered._

_“_ Well _that’s an awful thing to say about your dear sister-in-law.” Was suddenly spoken and Drago bent back down to the latch. His eyes widened when he saw Mary standing there with a tablet. Hank was nowhere to be seen_ however _._

 _“How about_ sociopath _, insane,_ cookoo _, nuts,_ needs-a-straight-jacket. _” Finn uttered with contempt in his voice. “Were you working for the Terran Council as a spy?”_

_“Oh, no no.” Mary laughed. “The Hoffersons and my family have always worked for the council. You were just never told how deep any of the family members were since you were adopted.”_

_“Why have you done this to us?!” Drago now asked as he banged his fist against the door._

_“Why?” Mary mumbled. “Well, the Council is cleaning house and I needed test subjects.” She told him bluntly. “It’s a_ win win _for both of us.”_

_“Mary, they’re playing you! What’s stopping them from getting rid of you and Hank once you finish doing their bidding?” Finn tried to convince her._

_“I know the Council can’t be trusted.” Mary shrugged. “This is just_ a you _scratch my back, I scratch_ yours _situation. Besides they wouldn’t dare harm me or Hank. I made sure that we have an insurance policy._ Now _why don’t we get started with my little project.”_

_\--------End Flashback------_

“This insurance policy.” Hiccup said once Drago finished the recount of events. “It’s the Midas drug samples isn’t it.”

“Most likely.” Drago muttered. “I would have been studying all these years to find a cure if I actually had an original sample.”

“How about we make a trade?” Hiccup suggested. Internally he didn’t want to do this but looking at the man’s behaviour he might not have a choice.

“What?!” Drago muttered while lifting a brow in confusion.

“You help me clone a body for Astrid. In return I’ll hand over the drug sample.” Hiccup suggested.

“Boy………. I do have to ask.” Drago smirked suddenly. “Does your girlfriend even want a human body?”

“What?” Now it was Hiccup’s turn to be perplexed.

“She’s immortal.” Drago stated. “Immortal and with access to information anyone would dream of. She doesn’t get sick either. Why throw that all away……….. For a boy.”

“Why don’t you ask me directly?” Astrid’s voice suddenly filled the room. “I don’t like it when you talk about me as if I am not here.”

Drago lifted a brow and then asked again. “Well do you? Are you really going to give up immortality for a boy? One you’ve known for less than a month?”

“I would,” Astrid stated without hesitance. “Hiccup’s worth it.”

“Answering without hesitance,” Drago said and sounded mildly impressed. “Teenage love……. It’s often foolhardy and can get you into quite a bit of trouble. It might even save this planet. Just don’t go regretting your choice in the end.” He warned.

“Don’t worry,” Astrid said with conviction. “I won’t.”

 

 **AN: Welp........** I **just came down with the flu....... Time to down some major fluids..... >_<  (This puts some kinks in my April fools prank at my University. I was totally gonna go out with a bang) **


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 31**

Hiccup sat nervously on the bed tapping his knee. It had already been a week since he made the deal with Drago and today he was supposed to hand over the drug sample. Next to him on the bed lay two sealed brown boxes that Astrid had helped him put together as well as a small cooler containing the Midas drug sample.

“Hiccup are you sure about this?” Astrid asked over the earpiece.

“I might not fully trust Drago but he’ll be willing to do what it takes to get his hands on Midas.” Hiccup told her.

“Not that…..” Astrid stated. “I don’t like him much myself but I was talking about the boxes. Are you sure?”

“We might have to make our getaway as soon as you have your body.” Hiccup stated with a frown. “I just don’t like leaving the others behind and in the dark after all this. They should know what Hank and Mary are capable of and what really transpired here.”

“And if Stoick doesn’t believe you?” Astrid asked. “You know there is that possibility.”

“I know. That’s why I’m handing one of these to Gobber instead.” Hiccup told her. “I know he’ll be able to get through to dad even if I can’t.”

“And have you decided on who will be getting the other box?” Astrid asked with great curiosity.

“Fishlegs,” Hiccup stated. “He’ll figure out what the contents mean pretty fast after he reads them.”

“But you’ve been pensive this entire week,” Astrid said. “And it’s not all about this trade either.”

“No it wasn’t. I was just thinking.”

“About?” Astrid prodded.

“The Hoffersons, and why they haven’t acted yet.” Hiccup elaborated. “They’ve had everyone under one roof for weeks now. So why haven’t they done? According to Drago they could have easily drugged the entire facility with sleeping gas.”  
“You’re thinking they are planning something big?” Astrid asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to call them out on it in front of everyone.” Hiccup pursed his lips. “Who is gonna believe the fishbone anyways?” He asked aloud with a self-deprecating laugh. “The gang might but the rest of the Berkians…….. It will be like talking to brick walls.”

Hiccup stood up and grabbed the cooler and the two boxes. He however stopped in his tracks once he walked into the living room. Hiccup’s eyes went wide as saucers at the sight that greeted him. There on the couch sat both Ruffnut and Fishlegs and they were locking lips.

“OH. MY. THOR!” The exclamation caused Ruffnut and Fishlegs to stop what they were doing. Fishlegs squeaked and jumped up causing Ruffnut, who was almost straddling him, to fall to the floor with a ‘thud’.

“OUCH!” Ruffnut groaned as Fishlegs quickly helped her up.

“Uhmm… eh….” Fishlegs sputtered as Ruffnut grumbled “Really Hiccup! Things were just about to get good!”

“Well I see you’re no longer confused about which guy Ruff.” Hiccup laughed.

“I figured out that I just love sensitive guys!” Ruffnut winked. “Oh and Fish is such a good kisser.”

“Uh… eeeg… uhm…” Fishlegs was still sputtering and couldn’t form much of a sentence. He finally managed to squeak out “Kissing we all did…… Did all we kissing….. Uh… oh aaaaah!!!” The sentence ended up getting jumbled which caused Ruffnut to laugh.

“I think what he means is kissing is all we did.” She finished and then patted Fishlegs on the shoulder.

“Yeah that….” Fishlegs said.

“Well congrats to you both,” Hiccup was happy for them and then he remembered why he was going to find Fishlegs in the first place. “I’ll leave you two to it but I got to give you this first Fish.”

Fishlegs blushed when Hiccup hinted at leaving the two alone and then looked confused when a nondescript box was handed to him.

“Hiccup what is this?” Fishlegs asked with a frown.

“Uhm…… just something you have to read but only when the situation seems dire.” Hiccup quickly explained. “Or when you think it’s dire.”

“Does this have anything to do with you and Astrid sneaking around?” Fishlegs asked, perceptive as always. “You think we were going to be in danger if we knew?!”

“Yeah, kind of.” Hiccup gulped. “Look, I really can’t explain it in full but…….. If anything happens that you find suspicious……”

“I’ll open the box.” Fishlegs nodded.

“Right… thanks for listening… I…. uhm… I’ll let you guys get back to…… uh…” Hiccup blushed as he quickly walked to the exit but was stopped by Fishlegs’ next question. “Just how bad is this secret that you think we won’t be safe Hiccup?”

“It’s pretty bad…..” Hiccup quickly said before exiting swiftly.

Once outside he let out a groan. “What’s wrong?” Astrid inquired as Hiccup quickly walked to his other destination.

“Ruffnut will probably convince Fish to read the contents earlier.” Hiccup mumbled. “If they blurt something out and get caught in any crossfire…..”

“And you’re worrying this much because you don’t want them to get hurt because of what we are about to do. Because you’ve never really had friends before.” Astrid stated quite bluntly.

“Yeah……..” Hiccup couldn’t deny it. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

“I think Hank and Mary should watch out though,” Astrid suddenly commented and Hiccup gave a weird look before he quickly corrected himself. “I mean, can you imagine the chaos the twins would cause if they started pushing random buttons in the secret lab?”

“Oh Thor!” Hiccup laughed at the image. He must have looked like a madman, laughing to himself, because two of the men walking past walked just a bit faster.

When Hiccup finally came to Gobber’s office and apartment in the maintenance section he knocked twice.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Hold yer britches!” Came from the other side of the door. Gobber opened the door a bit and exclaimed “Hiccup!”

“Hiccup?” Another voice came from inside and Hiccup peered over Gobber’s shoulder to see his dad sitting there with a mug.

“D-Dad!” Hiccup gulped as his eyes widened. “W-What are you doing here!”

“Visiting Gobber,” Stoick frowned. “What are you doing here?” He asked back.

“Visiting Gobber,” Hiccup replied the same.

“Okay……. Well this is awkward.” Gobber muttered. “Uhm……..”

“Ah, Gobber. I only came to give you this actually.” Hiccup quickly spoke as he thrusted the box that he had been holding under his arm into Gobber’s hand.

“You got me a present lad?” Gobber asked with a raised brow. “Now I know it ain’t mah birthday….”

“No, no Gobber. It’s all the info you need to give to dad when things get……….. Weird.” Hiccup internally cringed as he knew Stoick’s eyes were on him as well.

“Why can’t you give it to me yourself son?” Stoick asked as his big red bushy eyebrows scrunched together.

“Becauseyouwouldn’tbelievemeifItoldyou,” Hiccup managed to get out in one breath before he turned on his heels and fled.

“Damn that boy can run,” Gobber observed before looking down at the box still in his hand.

“Gobber what has Hiccup been up to?” Stoick asked with a frown as he looked at the place Hiccup was standing not seconds ago.

Gobber proceeded to thump Stoick on the side of the head and mutter “Now you want to know? You haven’t even apologized yet!”

“You told me to give the boy some space!” Stoick argued back.

“Some space! Not a whole freaking solar system!” Gobber rolled his eyes at his friend as he closed the door. “I still can’t believe you’ve waited this long to even talk to him.”

“Hiccup is……… Hiccup is difficult to understand.” Stoick mumbled. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I even placed myself in his shoes.”

“I hope you got those shoes fixed then…..” Gobber mumbled as Stoick shot him a glare.

“What I mean to say Gobber…….” Stoick muttered “is that I really did royally screw up and I have a lot to make up for. He’s as adventurous as his mother was and I was afraid of losing him as well.”

“You know….. That might be a good start with the apology.” Gobber suggested. “Now are you or aren’t you curious about what is in this box?”

“I thought you knew what Hiccup was up to?” Stoick frowned.

“I don’t know exactly……..” Gobber gave a nervous laugh. “But I reckon it has to do with the missus.”

“What missus?!” Stoick’s bushy eyebrows nearly shot up to his hairline.

Meanwhile, in another part of the facility a very out of breath Hiccup exited the elevator. “I did not expect dad to be there.”

“I did not expect you could even move that fast.” Astrid stated bluntly. “You do know you two will have to talk eventually.”

“I know…. I know. I just can’t stand to see that disappointing scowl he wears when he’s looking at me.” Hiccup groaned as he made his way to the Genetics lab.

“You might not get another chance after this Hiccup.” Astrid warned him. Hiccup bit his lip and tried to hide his frown but he did give a small nod to show that he understood.

When Hiccup walked into the Genetics laboratory he did stop in his tracks again. His eyes widened at the sight before him and his mouth fell open. Not a sound came out however until he told Astrid to call his uncle Spitelout in the Security section. There in front of Hiccup lay none other than Drago, dead, in a pool of his own blood with a knife sticking out of his back.

 

**AN: DUN DUN DUNNNNNN......... If ya'll are wondering. Yes, I made a list of characters to maybe kill off...... no, you will not know until it's too late. (Cackles)**   
**Next update is Friday.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 32**

“I alerted Spitelout,” Astrid stated and Hiccup could hear that she sounded almost unsure of what had happened here. “I’m scanning the room Hiccup. Stay near the door.” Astrid then said as a small device appeared from the ceiling. It looked like a simple black stick until it activated. Red lights, creating lines across the area, swept the room several times. Hiccup held his breath, unsure of what Astrid was scanning for. In the distance he could hear footsteps running and the doors opened again to reveal Spitelout, Snotlout, Mrs. Larson and Ack.

“What in Thor’s name happened here?” Spitelout asked as his brows shot up upon seeing the dead body and then looking towards Hiccup.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Hiccup quickly said upon noticing the accusing look from his uncle. “I asked Astrid to call you! I just got here.”

“I have completed scans of the area.” Astrid stated. “There appear to be no harmful chemicals present, the cause of death is a knife to the back which punctured a lung. Body temperature suggests that time of death is around midnight.”

“Likely story,” Spitelout crossed his arms and glared. “Too bad that I don’t believe it.”

“What? Why?!” Hiccup asked while he furrowed his brows.

“You why dad?” Snotlout was also confused.

“Cause this A.I. is supposed to have eyes and ears everywhere.” Spitelout stated. “If that’s true then how come she didn’t report this when it happened?”

Hiccup gaped at his uncle and then frowned because that actually made sense. A holographic screen appeared before those assembled showing several angles of the security feed both in the corridor and in the lab. “This is the video from midnight last night. As you can see Dr. Bludvist entered the laboratory alone.” Astrid stated. Spitelout was still frowning but he did nod.

Then another video replaced that one that showed Drago sitting behind a computer terminal in the lab working. “When was this taken?”

“Right now,” Astrid told the man grimly. “It’s the video at this moment.”

“WHAT?!” Spitelout’s shout caused Snotlout to take a step back. Mrs. Larson put an arm on the man’s shoulder and told him to take deep breaths.

“Wait, what’s going on here?” Snotlout asked. “How can that be now?”

“It seems my video surveillance of this area has been looped.” Astrid stated. “The video image reruns the same scene every 20 minutes.” Astrid fast-forwarded a bit to see Drago getting up, getting some water, checking on other things and then heading back to his workstation. “All the activities he is performing do not seem suspicious and he has acted like this fairly often.”

“Well that’s just one more reason why we can’t trust you,” Spitelout stated. “You’ve been tampered with. Who knows what else has been tampered with. How can you even conclude what he died from?”

“Well the knife sticking out of his back seems fairly obvious,” Hiccup mumbled and even Snotlout nodded.

Spitelout sputtered as he glared at Hiccup but Ellie stepped in. “While the knife does appear to be the murder weapon, and Spitelout obviously didn’t think that last question through,”

“Hey!” Spitelout shouted but Ellie raised a hand to stop him before continuing. “While he didn’t think the last question through, he does make a valid point. The system was hacked. We do not know if the time of death Astrid announced is accurate now.”

“My system shows no tampering,” Astrid stated and Hiccup could practically hear her frown.

“Well ain’t that just great,” Spitelout stated while crossing his arms. “Ellie can you figure it out?”

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Larson answered. “If I use the systems in the Infirmary, maybe. But we don’t know if they have been influenced.”

“I have not been tampered with,” Astrid was quite adamant. “I cannot be tampered with by outside sources. There are military grade encryptions and firewalls around my systems.”

“Then how do you explain the surveillance video?” Spitelout questioned smugly.

“Eh……” Astrid faltered for a moment but Hiccup jumped in.

“What if it wasn’t tampering?” He asked.

“Dude, what are you going on about?” Snotlout frowned.

“What if the person who changed the video had access.” Hiccup suggested. “Astrid is it possible for you to not notice someone logging in and changing things?”

“The workstations are connected to my servers but I do not tend to look into personal terminals because it would violate the privacy of the user.” Astrid stated. “I shall run a scan and see what I can find.”

“Fine……” Spitelout didn’t look pleased but apparently he let it slide. He then turned his attention to Hiccup “And why exactly were you here?”

“Me?” Hiccup gulped. “Well…. Uhm……”

“Spit it out boy……” Spitelout grumbled.  
“I was just coming to lend Drago a hand.” Hiccup said. “Fishlegs and I help out in the labs.”

“Well that’s true.” Snotlout confirmed as his father’s eyes turned to him. “Fish and Hiccup actually want to spend time in these stuffy labs.”

“And where were you before you came here and who saw you?” Spitelout then asked Hiccup.

“Fishlegs and Ruffnut at home, and dad and Gobber at Gobber’s place. That was just before I came here.” Hiccup quickly stated.

“Does this ring any bells?” Ellie asked, more at Hiccup, as she and Ack were examining the body. She walked towards Spitelout and Hiccup with a small strip of paper that was covered in blood. “I think he reached for this in his pocket just as he died. He was still grasping it.”

Hiccup and his uncle peered at the piece of paper. On it was a string of numbers reading ‘4263366688833777’.

“I’ve never seen these numbers before in my life.” Hiccup stated. “They are odd though.”

“Most of the numbers repeat.” Snotlout who had snuck a glance remarked and Hiccup thought that if his cousin noticed it then it was suspiciously obvious.

“A code maybe?” Hiccup frowned as he wondered what the code was for, if it was even a code.

“Or more likely it’s just the key to one of the locked labs.” Spitelout suggested and then called to Ack. “Once you and Ellie finish up here we’ll go test it out on the locked doors.”

“All of them?” Ack questioned.

“Yes all of them!” Spitelout shouted back before turning towards Hiccup. “And you! I’m still convinced you’re hiding something.”

“Eh……..” Hiccup gulped.

“While I don’t believe you had anything to do with this I just have this feeling that you’ll be causing me a massive headache in the future.” Spitelout muttered. “Now get. I’m closing this lab down until we find the culprit.”

“I have finished my analysis,” Astrid suddenly spoke up, interrupting Spitelout who was about to order Snotlout to see to it that Hiccup stays away. “The source of the loop is Drago’s personal terminal.” Astrid told them. “The terminal he was sitting behind in the surveillance video.”

“So the killer used Drago’s terminal after the murder.” Spitelout surmised. “It was already logged in.”

“Unfortunately no. A murder happening before the loop would have immediately alerted me. My programming is designed to detect violence by analysing the video feeds. The video loop happened before the murder took place, thus avoiding setting off my predictive analysis to the violence that occured here. Furthermore, Dr. Bludvist was the only one at the workstation at the time. No one else shows up on the feed and he isn’t seen talking to anyone. It is a reasonable conclusion that no one entered the lab while the loop was being filmed.” Astrid corrected.

Spitelout rubbed his head and Hiccup and Snotlout recognized it as the gesture he made when he was getting a headache. “Just what was he doing that he didn’t want anyone else to see?” Ellie asked with a frown. She lifted a brow at Hiccup as if to ask if he would know.

“We’ll figure that out later.” Spitelout stated. “For now Snotlout make sure that Hiccup doesn’t do anything suspicious.”

Hiccup sighed as Snotlout tugged him out of the lab and down the corridor. When they were out of earshot Snotlout let go and then turned to Hiccup. “You really know how to attract trouble Hiccup. Just what is going on?”

“Well you see…..It’s a long story.” Hiccup nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “But first we kind of need to figure out what that code means.”

“I know what it means Hiccup and I have a good guess of what it is for.” Astrid spoke up in the corridor startling Snotlout.

“You do?” Hiccup asked and Snotlout was already facepalming while muttering “No…… no….. Just…. No.”

“I do,” Astrid confirmed. “But we will need to get back into the Genetics lab.”

“Hiccup! That’s doing something suspicious!” Snotlout groaned. “That’s doing something VERY suspicious!”

“We can sneak in once uncle Spitelout seals off the lab.” Hiccup mumbled as he raised a brow at Snotlout. “You can overwrite it, right?” he asked Astrid.

“Indeed,” Astrid proudly stated.

“Why am I even hearing this?!” Snotlout now questioned. “When did my fishbone of a cousin become so devious?!”

“Sooooo Snot. Mind helping your cousin out a bit?” Hiccup asked while looking completely innocent. Snotlout for his part merely banged his head against the wall now.

 

**AN: Let's play a little game. Who can figure out the code before my next update tomorrow? Yes. You all will be getting another chapter tomorrow. XD Good luck!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 33**

“I have to WHAT?!” Snotlout growled as they sat hunched over a table in the corner of the empty Mess hall. The teens ducted a bit lower as several eyes of the staff fell at them.

“Just keep your dad and anyone else busy. Distract them somehow. Anyway you know how.” Hiccup said with all seriousness. “I would know more if Astrid explains about the code.”

“Right….” Astrid said in the earpiece. “But first, I’m surprised that you and Snotlout aren’t more distraught Hiccup. Seeing a dead body, a murder, isn’t something someone could walk away from unscathed. At least not mentally. Yet you and the others looked particularly calm in there.”

“You forget that we grew up in the wastelands Astrid.” Hiccup told her sadly. “Dead is common there. As is murder and all sorts of other things. We’re lucky that the Berkian caravan stayed out of most of the conflicts.”

“Yo…. Hiccup….. I can’t understand what you’re girlfriend is saying.” Snotlout waved a hand in front of Hiccup’s face to get his attention. Hiccup blushed briefly at the girlfriend comment and then looked around and nodded.

“It is starting to get a bit crowded in here, isn’t it.” he mumbled. “Why don’t we find another place?”

That other place happened to be nestled between two large crates in one of the storage areas. The teens found themselves wedged there about ten minutes later after leaving the cafeteria.

“I hope Mildew doesn’t find us.” Snotlout whispered in the brightly lit and closed room, where he didn’t have to whisper at all.

“Mildew is busy with his new sheep Fungus.” Hiccup shrugged. “I heard it from the twins last week. Apparently one of the test sheep started stalking him.”

“That is just creepy,” Snotlout shuddered. “Why would a sheep stalk Mildew?”

“Who knows?” Hiccup shrugged while Astrid said aloud “I do not profess to know the mind of sheep.”

“Now as for the code,” Astrid started as both men paid more attention. A holographic screen popped up in front of them with the string of numbers. “Normally you would think that it is a code for one of the keypads along the corridors but those can retain a five digit code.”

“So even if dad checks those he’ll find nothing?” Snotlout asked.

“Correct,” Astrid said. “The code is the password to a keypad but one more sophisticated than the ones visible outside. Some laboratories have private areas where more dangerous research or pet projects can be kept. That keypad has no numbers but letters.”

Hiccup frowned while Snotlout scratched his head as they looked at a holographic schematic of the keypad Astrid now displayed on the screen. “So the numbers on the paper are letters?” Snotlout frowned. “But they repeat. Pretty stupid password then!”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Hiccup frowned as he bit his lip. “Astrid is there something to the number repetition?”

“Yes,” Astrid chirped. “I’m assuming you two are unfamiliar with the T9 cipher.”

“The what now?!” Snotlout’s head was hurting at this point already.

“The T9 cipher was used in the last decade of the 20th century on communications devices. It stands for ‘Text on 9 keys’ but it became obsolete not long after as technology advanced. Because the communication devices of that era did not have holographic screens or touch screen with entire keyboards, the letters of the alphabet were assigned to a 3 by 4 numeric keypad. 0 and 1 did not correspond to any letter so the alphabet started from number 2 as in accordance with the E161 Telecommunications standardizations.” Astrid explained as she now started adding letters to the holographic keypad on the screen.

“To type an A a person would need to press the number 2 pad only once. For B, twice.” She continued.

“So the repetition of the same number is just one letter?” Hiccup asked as he was starting to understand it. “4263366688833777” Hiccup mumbled aloud as he looked at the keypad Astrid was still displaying and then back at the code. “No way! No freaking way!” Hiccup exclaimed before he started laughing.

“What?” Snotlout asked as he looked between Hiccup and the screen. “Hiccup why are you laughing like that?”

“Let’s just say that Astrid and I have a fairly good idea of who might want Drago dead,” He finally revealed as Snotlout blinked at him shocked. “And this was just his last way of telling them ‘screw you’. The letters read GAMEOVER.”

“Wait… you….. WHAT?!” Snotlout now shouted as he stood up. “You know who did it?!”

“Pretty good suspicion as to who,” Hiccup stated.

“And you didn’t tell dad…. Why?”

“Would he have believed me?” Hiccup raised a brow.

“Uh…… probably not,” Snotlout admitted as he sat back down on a crate with a ‘thud’. “So what happens now?”

“Now unfortunately we’ll have to wait.” Hiccup said. “At least until we get a chance to sneak back into the lab.”

And Hiccup got that chance that very evening. Spitelout had left and had locked the Genetics laboratory with his Security code. A code which Astrid knew and could override if she wanted to.

“Snotlout is at the Plaza with Tuffnut. I sent him a holographic screen that we were going now.” Astrid told him over the earpiece. Hiccup looked around the corner and saw that no one was guarding the lab. His uncle must have thought that his code would prevent any intrusion. The doors to the lab slid open and Hiccup walked in as the lights came on. Drago’s body had been moved earlier that day but the puddle of blood was still there.

“Where to?” Hiccup asked aloud as he looked around. There didn’t seem to be a secondary lab in sight.

“Furthest back wall.” Astrid told him and as Hiccup approached he noticed a black touchscreen that he didn’t notice initially. The screen was the same color as the wall and Hiccup gave it a tap. It lit up and a digital keyboard in a bright green outline appeared. It was just like the keypad Astrid had shown them, no numbers just letters.”

Hiccup entered the code ‘GAMEOVER’ and jumped back as the grey wall next to him opened with a hiss. A section of the grey wall hissed and created a small indent before opening with a whoosh. Hiccup cautiously peered inside the dark room. “Astrid aren’t the lights working?”

“The lights are manually operated in these parts of the lab. My camera and sensors also do not seem to operate in there.” She stated and Hiccup felt around the inner wall until his hand came upon what felt like a switch. He flipped it down and then gasped at what he saw. There, in the smaller, but not under-equipped, lab was one of the growth tubes filled with Bioplasma and a cloned body of Astrid.

“He actually did it!” Hiccup’s eyes widened as he stepped further inside and the door closed behind him. “It actually took him just a week.”  
Hiccup heard Astrid gasp over the earpiece since she couldn’t see into the room. Hiccup stepped closer and noticed that this Astrid’s body seemed to be aged further than the one in the secret section of the facility. Another thing Hiccup noticed was that there was something different about this growth tube. It seemed to have more machinery attached to it than the ones in the first lab. There were consoles displaying vital signs and there was a bigger console attached. ‘A prototype or an upgrade?’ Hiccup thought to himself as he looked around. There was also a medical table not so far away with a weird device attached to it. The device looked to have a separate operating console as well. Nowhere in the room was there a workstation with a system linked to the facility present.

Several notebooks were scattered about on a desk and Hiccup picked one up. They had hand-drawn schematics of the growth tube and the device on the table that Hiccup could recognize and several more that Hiccup had no clue about. There was a name underlined on the page for the device and Hiccup’s eyes widened as he read ‘Neurotransmitter’.

“Astrid, I think we might just have a way to transfer your consciousness.” Hiccup stated. “But this is a bit suspicious don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“I can get Drago making you a clone body but to have a transferring machine ready as well in just a week’s time?” Hiccup frowned. The transfer process had been worrying him for a while. “Furthermore it looks like he built this machine from scratch. These notes are old. This was done way before we even came to Arcadia.”

“If this was what Drago was trying to hide then it is a reasonable conclusion as to why he looped the video feeds.” Astrid said over the earpiece as Hiccup tapped the touch screen on the growth tube.

‘Do you wish to implement Final stage?’ it read and under it was a button for YES and NO.

“Astrid…….. Do you wish to continue?” Hiccup asked since this was her body after all.

“Yes Hiccup.” Astrid told him. “We are finishing this.”

Hiccup nodded and pressed the YES button. The screen went black for a moment before he read _‘Initiating nanotech treatment. Starting nerve animation sequence’_.

 

**AN: Congratulations to CobraAcademy and Astrid Camicazi N. Hofferson for decoding the message correctly in the previous chapter. XD**


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 34**

_‘Initiating nanotech treatment. Starting nerve animation sequence’._

Hiccup pondered this as he read the words. He didn’t really know what they meant. Then came a whirring sound and he looked up, through the somewhat foggy glass of the tube, to see small mechanical arms moving in the direction of Astrid’s cloned body. Syringes containing a somewhat metallic liquid were attached to the various mechanical arms.

“Are those nanites?” Hiccup asked aloud even if no one was in the room with him.

“Nanites?” Astrid asked since she couldn’t see into the room.

“They are being injected into the clone. Is that bad?” Hiccup asked as he watched the process.

“Not necessarily,” Astrid sounded thoughtful. “They may be needed for the transfer. But it is a pretty advanced leap in technological thinking to use nanites to facilitate a reverse transfer of consciousness. Yet not totally unexpected.”

“What do you mean?” Hiccup asked.

“The process is a bit too complicated to explain,” Astrid could be heard muttering. “Though it is safe to say that the nanites, if they are really there for the transfer, would be of great help with containing the flow of extra information.”

“It just feels like this entire process was designed for someone else.” Hiccup stated as he looked around. “The room not attached to the main system, the retrofitted cloning tube and transferring equipment.” Hiccup mumbled. “I don’t know Astrid. All of this seems like it would take more than a week to set up. Drago definitely had his own agenda. I think he wanted to do more than just work on a cure for Midas.”

“Hiccup you said you found notebooks. Maybe a possible solution to Midas is in there. I did hand over what research data we had found on it to Drago the week before.” Astrid stated while sounding pensive.

Hiccup looked around on the desk and frowned. The notebooks looked old and worn. The pages already turning yellow. He flipped through several of them but they only showed mechanical devices and pages entirely crossed out as if in a fit of rage. A couple of pages depicted a giant, fearsome looking machine. On the top of one of the page it read ‘Bewilderbeast’. The drawings were done in much finer details than anything else that Hiccup had come across so far. It was as if this weapon, because from what Hiccup could see and read it was indeed a very big weapon, was what kept Drago sane while pretending he was on Mary and Hank’s side. Hiccup thought that if Drago ever had had the chance to actually built this then Hank and Mary would have very likely been his first targets.

He rifled through some more of the documents, cluttering the desk, but found nothing that even resembled Midas. Hiccup was about to give up when he stubbed his toe against one of the edges of the workstation. He then looked down and squinted as something was wedged under the desk. He bent down, ignoring the pain in his toe and his eyes widened. There was another notebook there, wedged under the desk keeping it level. It looked far newer too and Hiccup proceeded to yank it loose.

Hiccup’s eyes widened when he leafed through it. “Jackpot,” He told Astrid as his eyes continued to scan the pages. “That was probably the weirdest place to hide a book,” Hiccup mumbled as he relayed where he had found it.

“Or perhaps the smartest,” Astrid corrected. “You only found it by accident.”

“True.” Hiccup nodded. “I can take these out of the lab so you can scan them with the camer-” Hiccup stopped and looked at the growth tube. It was making a whirring sound.

“Hiccup what’s going on?” Astrid asked.

He placed the notebook on the table and hurried to the screen attached to the tube. ‘ _Final cycle complete. Neural suspension active. Releasing subject_ ’.

“Ah!” Hiccup slightly panicked once he read that. The monitoring equipment, including the breathing mask, began to detach itself from the clone body and the hatch began to open, leaking bioplasma onto the lab floor. The fluid flowed to a nearby drain and Hiccup panicked as the unconscious body fell forward. He moved quickly and broke the fall.

It was then that Hiccup’s eyes widened and he turned his head away quickly while muttering “Oh Thor, Oh Thor, Oh Thor!” and trying to keep the blushing down.

“What’s the matter Hiccup?” Astrid asked while Hiccup seemed to look everywhere besides at Astrid’s cloned body.

“She’s….. You’re…… NAKED!” Hiccup sputtered as he kept his eyes diverted while hefting the clone body up and walking towards one of the tables that had linens on it. The clone’s body was still covered in bioplasma which now clung to the front of Hiccup’s clothes. Hiccup stretched out one hand while trying to balance the weight. He managed to grab a soft blanket and draped it around Astrid’s body, all the while trying not to look.

“Of course the clone body is naked,” Astrid said into the earpiece. There was clear amusement in her voice as she added “Did you think clones come fully clothed?”

“Har har har,” Hiccup rolled his eyes as Astrid laughed. He now managed to get a better grip and was about to bring the clone over to the medical table when the doors to the secondary lab opened.

Hiccup whirled around, clone in arms, and his eyes widened at who was on the other side of the door.

“Hiccup, I swear I tried my best!” Snotlout exclaimed as he was being held at the back of his shirt collar by Stoick, who was accompanied by Spitelout.

“Hiccup final checks for transfer are complete and decoy progr-OH SHI-ITAKE MUSHROOMS!” Astrid quickly corrected as her cameras displayed the new arrivals. She had been so caught up in making a decoy program so that they weren’t immediately discovered, only to get immediately discovered.

“Hiccup what in darn blazes is going on here?!” His father bellowed as he looked at Hiccup holding what appeared to be an unconscious woman.

“Dad…… I know this looks bad…….” Hiccup quickly said. “But there is a perfectly reasonable and logical explanation for all of this.”

“Snotlout was covering for you. He even started juggling to try and distract us!” Stoick grumbled as he shook Snotlout a little. Hiccup raised a brow at the juggling part. “Now there had better be a damn good explanation for why you are carrying an unconscious lass. A lass that I’ve never seen here before, and why you are in an area where a murder took place!”

“Everything will be explained Stoick,” Astrid spoke up suddenly. “But first would you mind Hiccup putting my body down? I would like to start this procedure before the clone develops an awareness. The longer we wait the more dangerous it becomes.”

“YOUR BODY?! AWARENESS?!” Stoick’s red bushy eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling while Spitelout was muttering something unintelligible under his breath.

Hiccup turned around now and headed for the medical table again. Stoick, Spitelout and Snotlout had no other choice but to enter the secondary lab if they wanted answers. The doors shut themselves automatically once the trio had crossed the threshold. Hiccup wasn’t paying them much attention as he carefully set Astrid down and read the instructions to start the machine. Astrid helped him along the way and started double checking everything. There was to be no room for error. He was lost in focus and even Stoick knew that he wouldn’t get much out of Hiccup when he was like this.

“You sure everything is rigged right?” Hiccup asked aloud and Stoick and Spitelout thought he was talking to them until they spotted the small earpiece. “And you’re sure they won’t detect a change until it’s too late?” Hiccup then asked. Stoick didn’t hear the answer but Hiccup nodded. He then held up a cable to the device he had attached to the clone body and looked around.

“There should be a terminal in the wall to plug in,” Astrid supplied and Hiccup had to crouch down to see it behind the medical table. “Once the terminal is reactivated I should have full sensors operational in the room. I can handle the transfer procedure then.”  
Hiccup nodded and reached down to plug in the neurotransmitter before pressing the button that would connect this lab to Astrid’s main systems. When he had done it he heard Astrid let out a happy sigh through the headset. “It is good to be able to see you again,” She flirted before starting the procedure.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the facility, Hank called out from behind a work terminal “Mary you have got to see this. Someone has been very naughty.”

Mary approached and leaned over her husband’s shoulder to see the room he was spying on. “Should we put a stop to it?” He asked.

“No,” Mary smirked. “Let’s see where this goes. This is valuable data after all.”

“But…..”

“Hank, this is rather interesting. Maybe we should move our plans up if this kid actually succeeds.” Mary smirked. “Contact Pandora. We may be able to move forward with Re-genesis much sooner than we thought.”

“Honey, just what are you planning?”

 

**AN: Oh dear...... Stay tuned for more on Monday!**


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 35**

“So that’s what happened,” Hiccup finished explaining as he looked at the gobsmacked faces of Snotlout, Spitelout and his father. “You’d probably figure most of this out if Gobber had let you read the contents of that box.” He added.

“Okay, first of all…….” Stoick started. “I’m sorry. I’m very sorry for how I treated you all these years Hiccup and you deserve more than this apology. I’d even stand still so that you can give me a black eye if you wanted.” Stoick got out. “You’re so much like your mother. And I was wrong to not teach you anything. I should also have apologized long before now.”

“Wow……..” Hiccup blinked as he looked at his father. He hadn’t expected an apology of any kind ever coming so he just stood there and blinked.

“Son, I know you have a lot to think about and you probably won’t forgive me right now…. But just know………” Stoick stopped here for a moment to catch his breath. He was rather awkward when it came to these matters. “Just know that I’ll support you,”

“That’s all well and good Stoick,” Spitelout grumbled. “But we have a bigger problem.”

“Which is?” Hiccup asked with a frown as he tried to get his thoughts in order.

“The Hoffersons,” Spitelout stated as he crossed his arms. “In your story you stated that you believed that they were the ones who killed Drago. It’s rather funny though. They came to Stoick this afternoon claiming they believed you did the deed.”

“WHAT!” Hiccup’s eyes widened and even Snotlout looked shocked at his father. “That isn’t true! I would never-” Stoick held up a hand to indicate for Hiccup to quiet down for a moment.

“What Spitelout said is true,” Stoick confirmed. “Mary and Hank did come to my office rather tearfully and told me what they suspected. Of course I didn’t believe a word they said.”

“You……….. didn’t?” Hiccup asked with hesitation. “But you’ve always assumed……” ‘ _that I was the one at fault_ ’ was left unsaid but everyone in the room knew what he meant.

“Aye….. I did,” Stoick didn’t deny it. “But I’ve done a lot of thinking and realized how wrong I was. So Spitelout and I were trying to find you, to talk, when Snotlout started distracting us.”

“Not a very good distraction either,” Spitelout gave his son a look that said he could have done better. “Him claiming you were on the toilet for most of the day was not very convincing.”

“SNOTLOUT YOU SAID WHAT?!” Hiccup groaned.

“Don’t give me that look cuz!” Snotlout pointed an accusing finger at Hiccup. “I had to think of an excuse quickly!”

Hiccup groaned and then rubbed the back of his neck. “So what now?” He asked. “We’ve been here a couple of hours already.”  
  
“Now we take down those mad scientists,” A female voice came from behind them and four sets of eyes snapped towards the medical table to see Astrid still laying there, but conscious. She was blinking and just staring at the white ceiling with bright blue eyes. “I am sorry for not communicating during these hours. The transfer process was intense.” Astrid said as she tried to move her fingers.

“Astrid, how are you feeling?” Hiccup asked as he quickly hurried to her side. Stoick, Spitelout and Snotlout stayed a respectable distance as to not crowd her.

“Lass?” Stoick asked as he noticed Astrid was not replying.

“I am trying to assess my condition but even with me having control over the nanites in this body it is much more difficult to give an accurate estimation.” She stated. “Sorting the cognitive functions is proving to be slightly more challenging than I had estimated.”

“Uhm…. can’t you move?” Hiccup asked as he noticed her trying to move her hands and arms. Only short jerks of movement could be noticed.

“My consciousness is still busy aligning itself with this body. Limb movement will take a while to get used to since I haven’t previously experienced this.” Astrid relayed. “It is strange feeling things for the first time.”

“Here, let me help you sit up then,” Hiccup said as he raised the medical table so that it acted like a recliner. Astrid seemed to get more control in her limbs as she was able to slowly raise an arm. She placed it on Hiccup’s face tentatively and drew him in slightly for a soft kiss.

Hiccup was shocked as Astrid let out a giggle while slowly feeling her lips. “So this is what kissing really feels like,” She managed to chuckle out.

“Uhm…. eh…. Uhm…….” Hiccup sputtered as he turned beet red.

“Maybe we should get the lass some proper clothing?” Stoick suggested as part off the blanket rolled down a bit, exposing her bare shoulder.

“Right… right……” Hiccup agreed as his cheeks still looked red as strawberries.

“That can wait for a moment,” Astrid said as she turned her head slightly. “It may take me a couple of hours to get full motor functions but this has to be handled quickly.”

“What’s wrong Astrid?” Hiccup asked.

“You will need to apprehend Mary and Hank.” She told the group. “While I was transferring I noticed a network channel connecting to a port belonging to the T.S.S. Pandora. I think whatever they have planned will be enacted soon but I didn’t hear what it was about.”

“T.S.S.?” Stoick asked.

“Terran Stellar Ship.” Astrid explained. “The T.S.S. Pandora is the name of one of the ships that left the planet during Project Genesis.”

“Oh great,” Spitelout growled and then asked “And you can’t stop them from here?”

“Data manipulation is limited for me right now. I have left a decoy A.I. program in the system so it won’t be immediately apparent that I am gone. The nanites within this body can only influence rudimentary programs right now.”

“You mean like with the suit you made?” Hiccup asked.

“Correct,” Astrid stated.

“Well then what are we waiting for?!” Snotlout exclaimed. “Let’s get those two! It should be easy!” Alarms started sounding just as Snotlout finished that sentence.

“You just had to jinx it didn’t you!” Hiccup muttered. The emergency lights came on and the lab was now bathed in a red glow.

The group looked around and Stoick was walking to the door while Hiccup chose to stay near Astrid. Before Stoick reached the door however a familiar female voice was heard over the speakers.

“Greetings Berkians,” Mary could be heard saying. “Now all of you might be wondering what is going on. Though right now my husband and I just need all of you to sleep tight.”

“Oh Thor no!” Hiccup now exclaimed. “Dad don’t open that door!”

Hiccup’s warning came too late though as the secondary lab doors were already opening automatically. A white gas made its way inside the previously sealed room and Hiccup shouted for everyone to hold their breaths. It didn’t help much and soon the room’s occupants fell into a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, somewhere near Saturn’s moon Titan, a sleek starship was making its way through the vacuum of space. On the bridge of said spaceship a crewmember spoke up “Commander, a communique from Terra has just been received. Given the time lag it should have been sent over four hours ago.”

“So our Terran agents finally deemed it fit to contact us.” The man sitting in the command chair of the bridge raised a brow. “What are its contents?”

“Possible solution to our problem has been found. Be ready to go when sensors indicate Re-genesis has launched.” The crewmember read.

“So…….. It’s finally time that we can reclaim our mother planet.” The Commander smirked before ordering “Open a channel to the Council on Callisto.”

The viewscreen of the ship darkened somewhat and a holographic screen appeared. Then an old woman was visible on the screen within seconds. “Greetings Grand Admiral Excellinor, we have just received word from our Terran agents while on routine patrol through our assigned section. The message is being relayed to the Council as we speak.”

The old woman looked down at a screen and then nodded once she read it. “Return to Titan base and await further instructions Commander Grimmel. This is an auspicious occasion.”

 

**AN: AAAAAAAHHH I have been re-writing this chapter for 2 days trying to figure out which of the sequel's characters should get a bit of a cameo in here. I finally settled on this. Things are getting rather ominous, for those who know just who these characters are.**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 36**

Hiccup awoke and felt as if he had just eaten an entire log. His mouth felt dry and probably also felt like sawdust. When his groggy eyes opened he was in a small cell. The lighting inside of the cell flickered on and off as Hiccup managed to stumble to the door. Whatever was in that sleeping gas was quite powerful.

The door was solid steel and Hiccup banged against it at first before he sank down and noticed a small rusting hatch. He opened it with some difficulty and called out. “Hello!”

“Oh Thor! Hiccup!” A relieved voice called out but Hiccup couldn’t see where the voice came from. He did recognize it as Ruff’s though.

“Ruff?! Where are you?!” He called out.

“Further down this damn hall,” Ruffnut yelled. “Any clue where we are?”

“Yeah,” Hiccup answered and he really wished he didn’t. “Do you know where dad, Astrid and Gobber are?”

“I know Gobber’s in one of these cells.” Ruffnut answered. “I saw them dragging him into one when I came to, but……”

“But?!” Hiccup clambered on his knees and stuck his head closer to the latch.

“Your dad and some blond girl I’ve never seen before were dragged away after they dumped Gobber in a cell.” Ruffnut stated. “The crazy guy muttered something about cyborg research.”

“How come you were awake for it all?” Hiccup asked as he noticed most of the Berkians were just waking up.

“Tuff and I experiment. I guess we might have built up a bit of an immunity,” She mumbled.

“Just what in Thor’s name were you even experimenting with to build an immunity?!” Hiccup asked incredulously. “You know what, that answer can wait. We need to get out of here fast and find dad and Astrid.”

“That’s gonna be hard.” Tuffnut now answered from a different cell that seemed to be closer to Hiccup’s. “I left the lasers in our living room.”

“YOU WHAT?!” Ruffnut shouted. “YOU STUPID BUTT ELF!”

“How was I supposed to know we were going to be kidnapped you damn Grendel’s bride?!” Tuffnut shot back.

“That’s what the lasers were for you lard brain!” Ruffnut shot back.

Hiccup wasn’t about to butt into this convo, especially with the twins spitting at each other like that, but he did wonder where the hell the twins even got lasers to play with.

The twins were insulting each other more and more before they actually agreed on something. “We are doing that,” Ruffnut stated with finality.

“But you know I hate doing THAT!” Tuffnut groaned. “I look like an idiot.”

“You already are an idiot!” Ruff shot back.

“Doing what?” Hiccup frowned as he asked this. He had completely lost track of the conversation.

“Get help,” Ruffnut chirped and Hiccup had no doubt that she was beaming at her idea. “Tuffnut start doing it,”

“Fine fine,” Hiccup could hear Tuffnut groaning before Ruffnut shrieked “HELP HELP HELP!! MY BROTHER IS DYING!!” and continued shrieking for a few minutes.

It didn’t take long for the doors to the brig to creek open and Hank to run in. Hiccup frowned at the quick response until he realized that Hank must have been monitoring the security footage. It would certainly explain how they found out about Astrid. Hiccup peered through the latch to see Hank standing in the corridor and Ruffnut yelling at him “WHAT THE DEVIL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! MY BROTHER IS DYING! HELP HIM!”

Hiccup heard the hurried footsteps and the sound of a door creaking opening. This was followed by a cut-off yell and a heavy thud. “Idiot,” Tuffnut smirked as he stepped out of his now open cell with the keys in hand.

“What do you expect? The people who fall for this trick aren’t very bright to begin with.” Ruffnut stated. “Now release your genius sister.”

“Meh,” Tuffnut muttered and decided to release everyone else first while letting his sister stew. When Ruff finally got free she smacked her brother on the back of the head.

“Guys we don’t have time for this,” Hiccup told the twins who were busy glaring at each other. “I have a feeling that the fate of humanity literally rests in our hands at the moment.”

“What do you want us to do lad?” Gobber asked as he stepped forward. The other Berkians were still groggy and even Fishlegs could only keep an eye open for so long. “Evacuate?”

“I doubt that’s possible now,” Hiccup mumbled. “Astrid told me that the doors to the facility could withstand a nuclear blast. Hank and Mary would have locked us out by now. The only place we can go is forward now.”

“There isn’t an armory down here is there?” Spitelout asked.

“Forget the armory,” Mildew grumbled. “Grab anything that isn't nailed down to use as a weapon.”

“We need to find dad and Astrid first,” Hiccup said.

“Where do we even begin to search?” Gobber asked as Hiccup got a determined look on his face. He marched towards the cell where Tuffnut had been held. For once the Berkians parted and let him through without a problem. The door was locked now but Tuffnut, who still had the keys, unlocked it to reveal a groaning Hank. Hiccup wasted no time and bent down to grab Hank by the collar of his lab coat.

“Where are they?” Hiccup asked bluntly, a dangerous edge to his voice. Hank merely laughed but that earned him a punch to the jaw.

None of the Berkians said anything as the mad scientist went sprawling to the ground again. Some had to blink twice to make sure that it was mild-mannered Hiccup that was doing the hitting. “I won’t ask again. Where are they?” Hiccup growled out as he was losing his patience.

“Doesn’t matter…..” Hank actually had the audacity to laugh. “The Earth population is already done for,” He chuckled. “You’re too late.”

It was Spitelout who stepped forward in quick strides and knocked the man out, much to everyone’s surprise. Hiccup blinked for a moment as he watched his uncle bend down and yank the ID card from Hank’s pocket. “He’s not going to tell us anything but this should get us into most rooms.” He told Hiccup who nodded grimly.

“We should take him with us,” Gobber suggested. “Insurance policy. That nutjob is the husband of the even bigger nutjob that shoved us in here.” There was a chorus of agreements as Mildew and Ack started dragging Hank out of the cell. No one said anything as they deliberately caused his head to hit the doorframe, the wall, and several other objects in the hall.

After the Berkians exited the room they came upon a junction. Ellie frowned and then suggested “We should split up. More ground covered.” The Berkians nodded hesitantly and started to split. Mildew and Ack who were dragging Hank went left with Ellie and several others while the teens went right along with Gobber and Spitelout.

“This place is giving me the creeps,” Fishlegs uttered after they had been walking for fifteen minutes with no sign of the Chief or Astrid yet. They came upon a set of large double doors a bit later and Hiccup used the ID card to open it. When it opened his eyes widened at what he was seeing.

“YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAD!” Hiccup threatened as his eyes narrowed.

 

**AN: It seems we are reaching the end of this book. There seem to be only a few chapters left. But never fear! A sequel is near!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 37**

“YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAD!” Reverberated through the large laboratory and Mary who was standing over a strapped down, but conscious, Stoick with a mechanical sawn turned sharply to glare at the intruders.

“The hell?!” Mary shouted as she saw who had just barged into the lab.

Stoick’s eyes went wide and his red bushy eyebrows shot up as he recognized his son’s voice. He couldn’t actually see Hiccup since he was completely held immobile by metallic straps on a table.

“Hiccup!” Astrid shouted as she banged on the sturdy glass behind her prison. She was in some type of tube that was affixed against the far wall and Hiccup’s eyes widened further when he caught sight of her.

“Astrid!” Hiccup took a step forward but froze when Mary reached behind her pulled out a handgun on them.

“Who let you all out? My idiot husband?” She asked with some disgust as she glared at Hiccup and the gang. Gobber who was near Hiccup dragged him back a bit and half hid him behind the bulk of his body.

“Lady just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Gobber shouted as Mary gave an eerie laugh.

“Why should I bother telling any of you since you lot won’t be around for long,” She muttered and leveled the gun at them.

“This is bad, this is bad, this is bad,” Fishlegs was mumbling under his breath.

“I’d be out of a few guinea pigs for my next project but who cares right now.” Mary stated while cocking the gun dramatically.

“Hold it right there!” A shout came from above and everyone including Astrid looked up at the catwalk that ran above the lab to see Ellie and the rest of the Berkians there. Mildew and Ack still had a firm grasp on Hank as they hauled him up by the shoulders for Mary to see. “You harm one of them and we pitch your husband over the railing!” Ellie threatened.

Mary simply scoffed and lifted the gun before firing it at those on the catwalk without hesitation. Several of the Berkians screamed and backed away and Ellie was covered in blood spatter as she shouted when she saw where the bullet had landed. The bullet had hit Hank squarely in the forehead and the man slumped down and fell over the railing when Mildew and Ack had let go due to shock.

Ellie looked completely horrified at the woman who could just carelessly shoot her husband like that. “That is one problem out of the wa-AAH” Mary suddenly shouted as she was tackled to the ground by Spitelout when her gaze was turned, sending both of them sprawling into the tray of medical equipment she had placed next to the metal table Stoick was tied to. The gun slipped from her hand and landed a few feet away onto the cold metal floor and the mechanical saw skittered with a loud clang under the table Stoick was tied to.

“What are you all waiting for?!” Spitelout shouted as he winced when Mary’s nails dug into his shoulder and neck. That got everyone into action. The Berkians on the catwalk withdrew while Gobber told Hiccup to “Get the lass,” while he went for Stoick.

Hiccup made it to the tube Astrid was locked in. She quickly indicated to the button on the side of the wall that would open the tube. The tube opened up with a hiss and then Hiccup heard his uncle, who had been trying to subdue mary, shout in pain. He looked over to see that Mary had managed to grab a hold of one of the fallen scalpels on the floor and drove it into Spitelout’s shoulder.

“Son of a-” Spitelout shouted as Mary proceeded to kick him in the groin and get free of his hold. She knocked Gobber, who was still working on freeing Stoick, against the metal table as she made her escape through a set of doors at the back of the lab.

“We can’t let her go!” Astrid shouted and tried to follow after her but running didn’t quite seem to be in it for the recently turned human. Hiccup caught her as she nearly pitched forward.

“I doubt she’ll get far,” Gobber said as he finally got a strap loose.

“No, you don’t get it!” Astrid desperately shouted. “If she launches the Re-genesis rocket it’s the end of HUMANITY!”

“WHAT?!” Both Gobber, Stoick and Spitelout shouted and Hiccup looked at Astrid in quite a bit of shock.

“Go!” Astrid said as she started to lean against the wall while pushing Hiccup in the direction Mary had fled. “She managed to get the code of the nanites inside of me. She then re-coded the Re-genesis nanites to eliminate all humans carrying the Midas drug.”

“Oh Thor,” Hiccup said as he looked conflicted. He didn’t just want to leave Astrid, who could still barely walk, alone yet at the same time the end of the world was near.

“Go!” Astrid said more firmly now. “I can catch up.”

Hiccup nodded and then followed after the fleeing Mary.

The double doors Mary fled through led to an eerie, barely lit, corridor that had rust along its edges. Hiccup jogged through it and he came upon another set of doors at the end. These seemed much older and the latch was rust covered. They opened up with a creek into what appeared to be the old missile silo. The catwalks seemed centuries old but the rocket that stood ready to launch had a shiny white plating covering it. On it stood painted in bold letters ‘RE-GENESIS’ along with flag Hiccup couldn’t recognize but he was sure it looked like Saturn.

There was a control room not so far away and he saw Mary through one of the dirty windows. Hiccup quickly made his way there and through the still open door that she hadn’t bothered closing.

“Ah ah ah!” Mary tutted as she leveled a gun at Hiccup. Hiccup’s eyes widened as he stared down the barrel of the gun. No one had realized that she had picked it up after the scuffle. She kept one eye on Hiccup as her hand extended towards a big red button that was covered in glass. “You’re already too late,” Mary smirked. “The rocket has already finished calibrating. All I need to do is press this.”

“You can still stop!” Hiccup tried to reason. “You don’t need to do this!”

“Oh but I do,” Mary said as she pressed the button that started the countdown. “It’s time to get rid of all the scum on this planet. The chosen humans shall reclaim their mother planet once again!” She proclaimed before she aimed the gun and squeezed the trigger.

 

**AN: Will he live.... Will he die (yes this is a possibility)....... We shall all see...**


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 38**

The gunshot reverberated through the missile silo along with a cry of pain. Mary had aimed the gun lower and proceeded to shoot Hiccup in the left leg. Hiccup fell down and clutched his bleeding leg as footsteps got closer to him.

He looked up to see Mary walking towards him with the gun at her side. So far she didn’t see a reason to kill him yet, which was worrisome of itself. He scooted backwards out of the control room doorway, leaving a trail of blood behind. Mary watched him struggle for a few moments as his back connected with the metal railing that separated the catwalks from the large missile silo.

“Why?..... Why didn’t you kill me?” Hiccup managed to groan. As his back connected with the railing.

“You’re the one who caused me so many problems,” Mary stated. “You even forced my hand to kill Hank. Granted, I would have killed him later anyways but he was still useful.” she muttered unemotionally as Hiccup tried to stop the blood from flowing. “Now…… Now you get to see all your plans fail.” A sinister smile now tugged on Mary’s lips. “I’ve locked out the controls. In less than five minutes humanity on Terra will be extinct, making way for the true Chosen Ones to reclaim the planet.” She bent down a bit so she was at a somewhat eyelevel to Hiccup “How does it feel, to know that all your plotting and scheming up to this point has been for nothing?” She chuckled.

“You said Terra?” Hiccup asked as the blood loss was starting to become apparent. “You can’t be……..”

“One of the Chosen Ones?” Mary chuckled. “I am,” She admitted. “Sent by the Council to oversee the eradication of the parasites that infested this planet. Marrying a Hofferson was just icing on the cake.”

Hiccup gasped, either from the pain in his leg or because Mary grabbed the front of his auburn hair tightly. “In the end I still win. Only those affected by Midas will perish. I will be here to welcome back all the other Chosen.”

“Who made you Judge, Jury and Executioner?!” Hiccup spat but Mary merely snorted as if it as obvious.

“About three minutes remain,” She smiled. “I’ll just leave you here to get burnt to a crisp by the rocket’s engines.” She said as she let go of his hair and was preparing to head to what Hiccup realized was another exit. Though Mary didn’t get far as she was suddenly tackled to the ground by Stoick who gruffly shouted “GET YER HANDS AWAY FROM MAH BOY!” His shout echoed through the entire silo.

She had been looming and gloating so much that she hadn’t noticed Stoick enter the silo, nor had she seen him taking a running start at her. To be fair, Hiccup hadn’t seen it coming either since he was in quite a bit of pain and his head was woozy from the blood that he lost. His dad had tackled Mary around the waist causing the handgun to go flying into the silo shaft. It clattered for a moment against one of the lower catwalks before nothing was heard. A sickening crunch filled the air as Stoick and Mary made contact with the metal floor. Stoick got up easily while Mary was clutching her chest and trying to breathe. Hiccup supposed that the audible crack from before must have been one or more of her ribs breaking.

“Where di-” Mary couldn’t finish that sentence as she coughed up blood. “You bastard!” She wheezed.

“Stoick did ya get her?!” Came the question and Hiccup turned his head slightly to see Gobber, who was steadying Astrid, come hobbling towards them.

“HICCUP!” Astrid shouted as she let go of Gobber and closed the last distance between her and Hiccup on the floor. “Oh Thor,” She said as she tried to help him stop the bleeding.

“Astrid we don’t have time. The countdown…..” Hiccup motioned to the control room and Gobber hobbled towards there. The normally mellow sassy blonde let out a string of curses no one there was likely to repeat.

“I can’t get anything to work!” Gobber shouted. “Two minutes left on that blasted countdown!”

“We need to get out of here!” Stoick turned around, bent down, and was about to help Hiccup up when Astrid caught sight of something glinting in Mary’s palm.

“WATCH OUT!” Astrid shouted as she surged forward with all the strength that she had. Her fist made contact with Mary’s jaw and the woman shouted in pain as the small knife she had hidden up her sleeve slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground. Stoick’s head whipped around and he was surprised that the mad scientist actually had that much strength left in her.

There was a creaking noise and all looked up to see sand falling into the silo as the missile doors opened. The clear sky blue sky, which was dotted with sparse clouds could now be seen as the whine of the rocket engines reached them.

“Dad we have to do something!” Hiccup shouted as Stoick lifted him up effortlessly.

“Manually reprogramming the nanites is our only option.” Astrid stated as she pointed to one of the catwalks that connected to the rocket still.

“Can you do it lass?” Gobber asked as he joined them.

“I don’t know,” Astrid admitted. “The nanites in my body might interface. It’s a gamble as it is.”

“Dad we have to let Astrid at least try. We’d be dead either way.” Hiccup said and before he could say anything else on the matter he was given to Gobber, which elicited a yelp.

“You get Hiccup out of here!” Stoick ordered in his Chiefly voice. It held no room for argument. “I’ll get the panel open so the lass can work.”

Gobber gave a salute before he nearly literally dragged Hiccup out of there.

“Gobber we can’t just leave Dad and Astrid there!” Hiccup shouted as they reached the exit Mary had been aiming for. The metal doors closed behind them when Gobber said “Chief’s orders Hiccup.”

Meanwhile, back in the silo, Stoick had quickly picked up Astrid and helped her to the panel on the rocket. In a feat of strength he pried off the cover with his bare hands, grunting all the while.

Astrid concentrated as she placed her hands against the wires and circuit boards that had been exposed. “Please connect, please connect,” Astrid prayed as she tried to focus. There were just too many variables. Either she was not strong enough to will the nanites in her body to work for her or if they did work, then they might not be able to convert the malignant nanites Mary had programmed in time. Astrid’s breath was becoming labored as she sent the thought of curing Midas through to the nanites. Before she knew it Stoick was gripping her shoulder and saying “Lass we have to go. Half a minute.”

“WAIT, please I need more time!” Astrid said as sweat coated her brow. The roar of the rocket engines could already be heard and the area was becoming misty. Stoick swore under his breath before he picked up Astrid and swung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He hurried past the prone Mary who merely chuckled. The roar of the rocket engines were heard as Stoick sprinted through the exit doors Gobber had taken Hiccup. The doors led to another corridor and up to the surface it seemed.

Stoick and Astrid got to the surface just as the Re-genesis rocket was leaving the silo. The smoke enveloped them and both coughed. When it cleared slightly they could see Gobber tending to Hiccup’s leg near an outcrop. The rocket was now just a bright point in the sky with a trail of smoke behind it.

“Did it work?” Hiccup asked when he saw his dad put Astrid down. Hiccup looked hopeful but Astrid was unsure.

“I don’t know,” She mumbled. “It might have. I don’t know if I reached the rocket’s nanites.” She mumbled as she leaned against Hiccup. The group of four watched the rocket get smaller and smaller.

“What happens now?” Stoick asked.

“The rocket will separate as nanites are released into various layers of the atmosphere.” Astrid explained. “They will stimulate rain and influence weather patterns until the entire Earth is covered in nanites. They will then start to clean up the water supplies and break down any harmful chemicals.”

“When will we know if Mary’s plan worked or not?” Hiccup asked as he put an arm around Astrid.

“Probably the first rainfalls,” Astrid mumbled as her head leaned on Hiccup’s shoulders. The group sat there silently for what seemed like hours but was instead close to ten minutes. The first droplets of rain began to hit them and Astrid and Hiccup looked up at the sky. Their future, and that of humanity still uncertain.

**Epilogue**

_Titan base, four and a half hours after Re-genesis launch_

To say that Commander Grimmel was bored was an understatement. They had been moonside for too long and he was just itching to get back into space. He was in his quarters when an ensign contacted him on the holoscreen.

“Sir,” The ensign saluted. “Urgent communique from Callisto base.”

Grimmel nodded and took the call in his rooms. “Grand Admiral Excellinor,” He greeted as he saw the face of the old woman. “To what do I owe this call?”

“We have received confirmed data from Arcadia that the Re-genesis rocket has launched successfully and has started the terraformation process.” The Grand Admiral explained. “Before the launch we received a report from Mary Hofferson as how she was going to handle the remaining population.”

“I received it as well.” Grimmel nodded. “How accurate is it?”

“It was reported just before the launch. There should be no complications in seizing the planet.” The Grand Admiral stated. “Therefore I am ordering you and the Captain of the T.S.S. Persephone to start the campaign. The journey should take roughly five years.”

“With all due respect Grand Admiral. The Pandora can handle this mission with ease.” Grimmel muttered. “Why must you include that woman in the mix?”

“I am well aware of your animosity towards the Captain of the Persephone, Grimmel.” Excellinor stated with a raised brow. “This is by order of the Council. You would do well to learn how to work together. The Captain should be arriving at your docking bay in a few moments to go over the plan.”

“As the Council commands,” Grimmel gritted his teeth and saluted. The holoscreen went blank and Grimmel, who was less than happy, grabbed his uniform coat and made his way out of his rooms. When he entered the docking bay he immediately recognized the captain he had very little respect for. It was the Council’s decision that they work together so he saluted to her as she did to him.

“Captain Mala Queen, it is _so good_ to see you again,” He greeted, though a bit strained, while offering his hand.

**\----To be continued in A.I.: Re-genesis----**

****


End file.
